Telling the Story of Silence
Yato vacho nivartante tad dhama-paramam mama*
That Silent place
From where speech returns
Is where Poetry begins
Scrawling across the page
It transforms itself
Into language
Standing up it walks
Straight into your heart
Singing its song
You have to emphasize
The nothingness
For something to be said
It speaks for itself
*From where the speech returns, that is my supreme abode.
Taittriya Upanishad 2.4.1 and Bhagavad-Gita 15.6, 8.21
© Ken Chawkin
This poem, What You May Not Know About Frankenstein, by Bill Graeser, was an inspiration! This poem by my son says it all: INSPIRATION, a poem by Nathanael Chawkin.
Related poems on this theme: Coalescing Poetry: Creating a Universe Storytelling—a poem on the storytelling process | Poetry—The Art of the Voice | Silence | A Wake-Up Haiku.
Cliffhouse Deck at Dusk, 6th haiku in 13 Ways to Write Haiku: A Poet’s Dozen, brings our attention to a tiny soft sound, making us aware of the ‘loud’ vast silence, a point that enlivens infinity. John Cage would agree.
Just came across this 16-second introduction by John Cage to his composition 4’33” which says the same thing, in his own inimitable way. His literal truth and sense of humor come through.
The material of music is sound and silence.
Integrating these is composing.
I have nothing to say,
and I am saying it.
For the musicians who ‘performed’ the piece, and the audience who listened, the silence was palpable, as you’ll hear from Tommy Pearson’s introduction and concluding comments with Tom Service in this BBC Symphony Orchestra performance of John Cage at the Barbican. Towards the end he quotes Cage as saying, “Everything we do is music.”
You may also enjoy Writers on Writing–What Writing Means To Writers and the links at the end to other posts on writing.
Tags: 4'33", Barbican, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bhagavad Gita, bill graeser, creation, creative writing, john cage, language, Literature, manifest, Nathanael Chawkin, nothingness, Poetry, self-expression, silence, speech, the poem, transcendental, unmanifest, Writing
The Uncarved Blog 
April 2, 2015 at 11:34 am |
[…] Another poem I wrote shows how Silence ultimately speaks for itself. See Telling the Story of Silence by Ken Chawkin. […]
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May 11, 2017 at 1:55 pm |
[…] Also see Telling the Story of Silence by Ken Chawkin. […]
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July 12, 2017 at 10:03 am |
Ken, I have recently discovered your blog when I was searching for poems by Susan Glassmeyer. I have a contract and am working on a book on grief and poetry. I wonder if you have a favorite poem that talks about loss, grief, or dying. I was very moved by the poem about the death of the dog on Congress Run road. I would not have found that except for your blog. Thank you! kim
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July 12, 2017 at 12:14 pm |
Kim, thanks for your request. Did you also see Susan’s other beautiful poem, “I Tell You”? https://theuncarvedblog.com/2013/08/20/i-tell-you-a-poem-by-susan-f-glassmeyer-from-the-incomplete-litany-of-untold-stories/ I purchased Susan’s two poetry books. She’s waiting to have a third book published, which will contain this poem.
I do have a few poems on loss, grief, and dying posted on my blog. I’m not on Facebook and would like to know more about the book you’re putting together. Do you have a link to more information about it? Please email me with it kennyjic@hotmail.com. Thank you. Ken
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December 6, 2017 at 12:14 pm |
[…] my poem, Telling the Story of Silence by Ken Chawkin, allows that silence to tell its own story, the “Nothing that is not there and the nothing […]
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