Were you ever told to keep silent?
Keep still, be quiet.
Save it for later.
There was one time
when this was a gift:
I think of the Grand Canyon,
and how it didn't quite admonish me,
and yet how it did.
How I welcomed its every message
how there was really just one message
how every living
and not living thing
knew it
and said it
in whatever way they could:
"Keep still even as you keep moving."
This was the wind's specialty.
"Be quiet even as you reflect with others."
This the red dirt and rock walls demonstrated,
echoing and absorbing before me.
"Save it for later."
The weary black ravens, who were the same color of my hair
at its most glorious,
eyed me.
With nothing to keep, I felt I was home.