THE SILENCE SMILED
by Jodie Senkyrik, © , 2001

I walked the street
the snow had fallen.
everything was silent.
inside.

I walked the street
quietly.
no one came out,
they were silent inside
as if afraid of the white

no one came out
as if the silence
put them all to sleep.
And maybe it did.

but the silence came out
and walked with me,
the snow talked
saying words like quiet,
and white and still
and silence.

The white of sound
laid upon the ground
and the blanket of cold
brought a warmth
that walked with the three of us-
snow, silence, and I.

And we walked.

and silence showed that it could spread out everywhere.
and snow tried but could only cover the ground,
and I had to stay in my body once again.

I saw a snow woman
standing silently
smiling  back at me
wearing a red dress.
It added color to her silent body.
I think that’s why she was smiling.

I walked on.
and the silence came with me
until the rare car yelled
and put it to sleep.

As I came to the field,
I could see only
the way the snow
had brought quiet with it
and for the whole place.

And the silence remained a while
as I walked through the snow.
a foot deep in some places.
my first time.
That’s why I smiled.

I didn’t know what it would feel like
so I walked through it
dragging my feet
stepping lightly,
stepping heavily
stepping softly
walking slowly
getting wet,
making footprints
And it was white
and the silence woke up.

The snow filled the benches,
the swings, the trees,
the path, the trash cans,
the grass, the sand, the ground,
all of them
gone from the world
replaced by white
for a moment in time

all replaced by white

the old gone,
the new, now white and silent.
And that’s why the snow smiled.

I walked around in this snow
for the first time ever.
Belonging only to me
until I give it and someone takes it.
And the cold was everywhere
and I felt warm
and I felt not alone
the silence and the snow and the white
accompanied me
and met me in the field.

We played together
and I heard them whisper.
They showed me where they lived in that moment.
and spoke to me for the first time
and I listened.
And that’s why the silence smiled.

I took note
so I could write about it
I spoke words in my mind
in order to remember.
And I thought I could.

But time passed
and the daily sounds begin.
And I remember the thought I had
when I tried to think of words.

But, I can’t create a poem using words
better than the snow and the silence
the poem is not here in any word or phrase,
the poem was then
in the moment
in the experience
in the snow.
in the silence.
alive and not alone.
written by the snow and the silence and the white
and they smiled while they wrote.