Issue
#1

January
2009

a poem by Karen Kelsay

Finding Silence

Serenity
comes while rocking a baby,
long after it falls asleep.

And peace
positions itself, like a gull
on a pier. Head, tucked beneath
wing, relaxed among
the elements.

Then there is silence.
Weight bearing, heart slowing.
An empty prelude
that warns all
to gather themselves.

It compresses breath,
and stiffens limbs.

I found silence, at the age of twelve.
It hovered over a glassy pool,
my infant brother
on the bottom.

© Karen Kelsay

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