Turning to Silence

It is a time of turning.

A time when

nothing is as it was,

despite our wishes for 

it to be otherwise.

We have no choice

but to let life unfold

as it will, hard as

it may seem

to bear and accept.

And so we turn

to each other

for comfort

in the knowledge

that we are not

in fact alone.

And we fall

into silence 

as words prove

to be inadequate.

But it is precisely 

the arms

of Silence

that can best hold 

our sorrow and pain

For Silence makes no demands

and is ever present for us,

ready to hold the heart

that has been hollowed 

out by the river of grief.

And so, we sit in silence

holding each other and being held.

—Laurie Winnette