! Singing The Silences Poem by Michael Shepherd

It’s almost as if we
sing them to each other all the day
to many tunes of silence:
toss them, daring you
to dropp them;

throw them like stones;
say them over our shoulder,
looking the other way;
half-fill them, because
the other does not deserve them –
thanks, give you a call, see you…

sing them to the tune of
a closing door;
shout them as if we wanted
everyone to hear them, say
yes, you’re right…

say them so thoughtlessly, that
it's as if we've forgotten what we said
just before we said them..
and some words spoken
not with the mouth, but
from a shining eye, that speaks them
calling to another eye;

or in the bed, said so gently
and so softly, that
it’s as if, not you, but the other
who is heard to say them; or is it
both of you;

there’s a music in all these;
words, wrapped around
with the music of our silences
that sing unspoken words.