Silence

I don't recall any other sounds
A desert of silence
Among the heartbeats
Expelled air choked-or held

Clouds creep across the sky
Pursing lips unvoiced
Leaves screwing up faces
The insolence of ordinary keys
A sprawling paper clip
The pallid clock-that picks at life

Is this what silence is then?
Something we speak of
Two whole minutes of it
Birds do not respect its emptiness
Distant cables-hum the rhythm of life
Nothing will stop them
Who will silence the dog or sheep?
I do not ask their observance
Or question their irreverence

I take each curtain by its throat
Squeezing the life from each
Tear off the tears-distasteful
As the pointlessness of beauty
And wait patiently only for him
Him who will silence us all