Waiting for Silence

Silence is a funny thing.
I hear it in the early morning hours as the sun is just coming up
in the hum of city streets in the distance
and in the still of the night under the stars.
I hear it in crashing waves
and an empty church building.
I hear it when conversation and music meld together in a coffee shop
and in the comfortable break in conversation with a friend.
I hear it when I close my computer and walk outside
and when I turn off my phone.
When I hear it I see it
and when I see it I hear it.
And I always feel it.
Sometimes it’s golden
and other times it’s absolutely deafening.
Sometimes it’s like a burden lifted
an unexplainable peace
and sometimes it’s a weight too heavy to carry.
On the days when I think I need it most
it seems elusive, taunting me to catch it
but it remains just out of reach.
And so on those days I surrender
I sit in the noise and wait
wait for the silence to catch me.