Blank

Blank. Blankety blank blank.
What is this silence? This
Silence is like a soldier,
Stony-faced and regimented, its
Bear fur piled high upon its
Forehead like a tottering stack of books.

Sometimes this silence will
Faint into noise, fall into loud.
Children chatter, little monkeys,
And play. Playing is not allowed
In this silence; it is too obscene, like
The rude notes that fall from your mouth.
They are ushered away, swept up like
The gently rustling, spineless leaves.
Even those leaves are silenced, burnt,
Frittering their short orange lives away in the
Carbon air. The air is a huge and silent
Diamond, molecular and exciting.
It shivers, and, with a sudden noise,
Cascades down your throat and into
Your open lungs.