What Silence Can Offer Poem by RIC BASTASA

when everything seems to be crowded
when everyone speaks
in such a chatter
gibberish
and this room becomes
a narrow space
filled with nothing but
noise

i will be silent
this silence that offers me
refuge
a blankness of the mind
where i can rest and start all over
again where i can think
of nothing
but stillness
where i become a closed mouth
a blocked heart
where i clench my fists
and say nothing

then they all look at me
and begin
to open
this silence demands
that it is now my turn
to speak
and they will listen

but it is too late
something has began to tick
and so i must
leave at once

they must know
what suffering
in the noise means
soonest