POWER OF SILENCE

Silence is transporting when you’re

quiet as a monk or listening

to a  soundless interlude

of a sublime Cage sonata.

When your enemies growl

and sharpened fangs reach out

an Armada of wordlessness

is unleashed with murderous intent.

When silence descends a deadly

message is volubly released

without a fired shot:

annihilation is the goal

as your arch-nemesis

is rendered deceased.

Few can heed the voice of God

which is quiet as a stone.

Silence of a catatonic is

always loud and clear:

leave me alone or I’ll implode!

Most foes are like those restless

mountain boys, Hatfields and McCoys

who used live ammo

to kill each other’s kin.

Civil discourse, fragile

as a Monarch’s wing;

keep talking at the table,

overlooking words of scorn and

fusillades of hokum,

'til resolution reigns supreme

Empathic attunement unsnarls

a closed mind like a luminous

white water lily unfurling

in the morning sunlight.

Acknowledgement, master key

to the locked door of

reconciliation, quelling

all vengeful fervor.

Milton P. Ehrlich