THE SOUND OF SILENCE

Is there such a thing as true silence and would it drive us mad if we found ourselves immersed in it?
Even in the most remote places there is subtle music to be heard: a keening wind, bird song, whispering grasses...
Such things help keep us sane.

HARP-SONG

A rat nests in a sheep’s rib cage,
alert: life in a lifeless place.
Stunted trees bend, where harsh winds rage,
resistant, like the sturdy race
of men whose sheep stand, like white stones,
on this land no man truly owns.

We crossed the plain, with boots and packs,
to find the dolmen, picnic there.
The sun, at noon, upon our backs,
warmed our pale skin, wind swept our hair.
I held you then as you loved me.
Sheep watched uninterestedly.

Today, sun bleaches stones and bones.
Young sheep graze where those others stood.
Around gnarled trees a wind still moans 
and teases music from warped wood
that rises endlessly above ...
haphazard harp-song for lost love.