Silence
World Poetry Day
If poetry is indeed ‘the best words in the best order’ it helps to have them from the pen and in the mouth of the ‘best poet’ for the job! In Harry Baker we found a young man whose sensitivity and spirituality instinctively ‘got’ the uniqueness of Bootham School and its approach to life through a lens of Quaker practices and values. One of the most unusual aspects of that is our use of silence in our assemblies, creating the time and space for reflection and being open to new insights…so we commissioned Harry to explore that for us, and this wonderful poem is the result. We offer it as a small but hopefully helpful contribution to World Poetry Day.
Silence
I have this friend called silence –
It felt awkward when we met,
although I’ve noticed recently
I’ve started calling her a friend.
I rarely saw her in the city –
our paths didn’t seem to cross,
which means the time she spent with me
I learnt to love for what it was.
We never used to get along –
I used to find her too intense,
but when you give somebody time
you’d be surprised how close you get.
And while I still make baby steps
she has known me since i was born,
I’ve just not always recognised her
when she holds so many forms.
And yet still when we are in groups
I see her start to fade away
And yet still when we are alone
I see she cannot be escaped
She can be awkward silence –
The type we don’t know how to act around,
so we try and distract ourselves
and pretend she’s not there.
She can be thoughtful silence –
she lets both head and heartspace filter,
as my mind empties to fill hers
when there’s nowhere else to share.
She can be awesome silence –
when the world leaves us astounded,
sound can’t begin to wrap around it
so it doesn’t dare to try.
There is the warmth of silence –
If we listen she invites us in,
the second we have time to give
then she begins to thrive.
And yet still when we are in groups
I see her start to fade away
And yet still when we are alone
I see she cannot be escaped
She has been with me in my loneliness,
whether or not I noticed it.
She’s with me in my hopefulness,
whether or not i notice this.
Just because you don’t see someone
doesn’t mean they don’t exist,
I know I’m not alone in this,
I know I’m not alone in this.
She lies awake with me at night –
She sits with me when i can’t sleep,
She is there when I’m bent double
and can’t find the words to weep.
Sometimes we even pray together –
She doesn’t have to say a word,
but just her being there makes it feel
like I know that I’ll be heard.
Harry Baker
If you liked this poem then you can watch more of Harry Baker at:
The Recital Room | Bootham School
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Featured Image: Photo by James Homans on Unsplash
