I need silence,
just like you who read with thought
and not aloud,
for the very sound of your voice
would now be noise, not words,
just a disturbing noise
that pulls me away from thinking.
I need silence,
I go out and on the street I meet the same people
who know my linguistic agility,
and confused by my hurried greeting,
perhaps they think I’m in a rush.
On the contrary, I simply need silence—
I’ve spoken too much, far too much,
the time has come to stop buzzing,
to gather my thoughts,
joyful, sad, sweet, bitter—
there are so many of those inside each of us.
True friends, they are few, maybe just one?
They know how to listen even to silence,
they know how to wait, to understand.
Whoever has heard many words from me
and no longer wishes to—
needs, like I do, silence.
