THE SHINE JOURNAL

 

 

THE ELOQUENCE OF SILENCE

 

 

 

Sometimes the dignity of Silence

And the reassurance of calm

And the peace that comes with quiet

Speaks more than jumbled phrases

And hasty reassurances

And grandiose defenses.

Sometimes the listening ear,

The understanding heart

And the patient soul

Mean more than the quick to speak,

As well-intentioned as they may be.
There is a certain eloquence

That Silence sometimes possesses.

Few understand her

Or her value or her meaning

Or are comfortable in her presence.

But rest and peace and calm

Reside on the wings of Silence

And are exhaled,

With her every breath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Walking Back Over My Broken Dreams

 

 

 

“Never walk backwards,” the sage said to me.

I looked into his aged grey eyes and waited.

“I used to walk backwards,” the old man said.

“What do you mean?”

“I used to tread upon my past dreams.

What might have been.

What could have been.

Even though they were broken…

Glass shards beneath my feet,

And caused me much pain and grief.”

He looked down, but not before I noticed

The years in his eyes

And the sorrow etched in his wrinkles.

I took his withered hand in my own.

“Every day, my mind would walk the same path

Inevitably…

A lover watching for a spouse lost at sea,

Knowing the truth, but not accepting it.

Even though my dreams were swallowed in the tide,

Never to be seen again.

Still I mourned

And raged

And shook my defiant fist to the sky.”

He looked past me to the distant horizon,

Where the brilliant sun was setting.

“I wasted so much time.”

I waited for him to continue.

“Young one,” he said,

“Do not follow my steps.

Do not walk backwards.

For the past is the sunset

And only morning

Will make you whole.

Race to her new sun

And never look back.”

 

 

 

Amy George is a graduate of Southwestern Assemblies of God University and currently working towards her Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing at National University, with an emphasis on Poetry. She hopes to eventually teach creative writing at the undergraduate level.  She sees her poetry as an extension of herself, much of it coming from personal experience and raw emotion. This is the publishing debut for her work.

 

  

“The Eloquence of Silence”

 

By nature, I am a nurturer. I long to have the words to say when they are needed, but I have caught myself understanding that sometimes there is more power in just being there.Words, though well-intentioned, can be awkward and not tell what is desired anyway. I think I am just beginning the learn the great power that is in Silence.

 

 

“Walking Back Over My Broken Dreams”

 

This was written at a time of my life when I realized that I had to put past heartbreaks behind me. I think we all have moments of decision like that, when we can either let the past haunt us or ensnare us or we can give hope wings to carry us into our future. I chose the image of the old man because I pictured a sage in my mind and a young person learning at his feet a very valuable lesson.