Stillness

You are alone when you’re with animals, With birds, in the grove or near a river. Only when you are with men, even one, You aren’t alone and feel the pressure. The silence you find when you are alone Is not the silence that follows a storm, Not the silence that falls in dawns or dusk And not the one seen in the church or museum. When you find yourself alone and aloof Along the meadow, where the sheep would browse Or along the brook, where sparrows would shoot. Or on a rock by which would flow a brook You will find such silence and will stand still And that stillness will cleanse your soul and nerves. It is good to be alone now and then. In a solitude of tranquility. 21.07.2015