Silence gives the mind a moment of peace, a chance to listen to nothing and everything. Leaving words hanging until a clearer thought breaks through.

Silence

Sitting between here and now

my mind crosses back

and forth

looking for answers

waiting as the silence

crowds out words.

Meditation requires keeping still and emptying the mind of words, or so I’m told. Neither one of those actions come easily to me. Words swirl in and out like bees searching for pollen among the roses.

My arms want to move, and I rock my head to the left, then to the right. Maybe I can focus my eyes on one thing and allow my mind to melt into the object.

The emptying never comes. Instead, questions that long for answers take up space. Until, I become the rose, small, pink, reaching silently to the sky. At last — no words.

Silence.

“To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still.”
~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

And always—

Be kind. Be brave. Be you.

Photo: © Kathryn LeRoy