The Silence

Nothing so loud as the silence,
Now that I'm living alone
Without the laughter and tumult;
After the last one has gone.

This house which echoed so loudly
With all of the sounds it contained,
Listens with me to the thrumming
Of the silence which has remained.

Children are loaned for a season
And mine were entrusted to me
To nurture and nudge to adulthood,
To be the best they could be.

But a loving mother's a mother
And it is so hard to retreat
To a quieter role in their new lives.
Lord help me this silence to meet.

By: Joyce 4/28/05