Do you hear the deep silent oceans?
Heed the unending silence of space?
Listen to the multitude chattering.
Voices competing in our human race.

We yearn for the silence of serenity.
Peaceful oasis within the shrill clamour.
Seeking harmony, calmness, tranquillity.
Amongst the glitz, the greed and the glamour.

Inside my temple, forever under siege.
The persecuted and downtrodden plead.
Never accusing or begging: simply asking.
Do you hear? Do you weep for their need?

The lonely, the destitute and homeless.
The cold and the hungry, calling for aid.
Are their cries lost? Or do you hear them?
Does the tragedy hurt? Do their pleas ever fade?

Imagine one quiet moment: one still minute.
And for that minute, hear the suffering and pain.  
The distress echoed through deafening silence.
Misery of innocents heard, again and again.

Silent white clouds drift majestically by.
A noiseless dew-drop, sparkles and glistens.
Eternally hushed, the faintest of whispers.
Do you hear? No one hears: unless someone listens.

© Paul Chafer 2014