Listening into the Silence by Martin Willitts Jr.

In the quiet, morning is unburdened

the sky’s hibiscus color.

Abundance cascades of birdsong —

just a heartbeat away.

Too soon, the moment is over.

Light understands

the unexpected, the lament,

the surrender, the cold unsettling

surprising force of wonder and loss.

I listen into the silence

for instructions, hoping

a voice will answer,

not from within,

but from otherworldliness.

Martin Willitts Jr has 25 chapbooks including the Turtle Island Quarterly Editor’s Choice Award, “The Wire Fence Holding Back the World” (Flowstone Press, 2017), plus 20 full-length collections including the Blue Light Award 2019, “The Temporary World”. His recent book is "Unfolding Towards Love" (Wipf and Stock, 2020).