What of the Loudness?

My offering today is another expression of relationship between “quiet” and “loud.” It is true for me that the world often feels loud. That it overlooks a contemplative way that I so love, and that it overlooks an “emptied” experience.

I doubt that this will change much. So, I return myself to how I orient myself, my sometimes denied inner loudness, to live as a kind human being, contributing in what I hope are mostly good ways. I don’t like the competitiveness that can live in loudness. The way that loudness hijacks the game, or the life path.

And so I keep noticing, sometimes through poetic form.

What of the Loudness?

I suppose it is true
that an inherent quietness lives within me.
That I seek to enjoy the slow turns
that honor transitions, blending one soft now to the next.

What of the loudness?

But then it is also true
that there is a normed loudness in the world that defaults to provocation.
That persists with volume,
that aligns with amplification, 

There is the loudness of circumstance.
It is world’s news of this and of that, real things,
that exceed a human capacity to attend,
and thus is so often elevated to categorical extremes.

What of the loudness?

There is the loudness of people doing what people do.
It is the passion for this and of that, real things,
people in varied causes,
shouting over needed distinctions of yours and ours.

What of the loudness?

And then there is the loudness that is deeply and personally within me.
It is the hope of this and that, real things,
that brings forward long buried fears,
silenced voice that lives under old hurts.

What of the loudness?

I suppose it is true that like many others,
I am coming to terms with the loudness in me
that wishes witness,
and companionship with that sweet beautiful quietness.