My teacher's teacher
used to say
that real silence comes
when you've been driven
into a corner
and simply cannot move an inch.

There's not even enough room
for self pity,
in that fundamentally
quiet place.
Your brain stops,
the world stops,
everything just freezes.

That's where,
where if you watch carefully,
and listen closely
you see and hear
the beginning
of what it is
to be truely
awake
and alive.

Most people,
when they get there,
don't really even notice.
Or, they find it
simply too frightening,
and quick like a bunny,
run back into the noise.

A few embrace the courage
or the desperation
to stay with it,
returning over and over,
learning it's tricks
and covering themselves
in the wet sheen
it leaves on your skin.

These mighty warriors
gently then walk
the path of liberation
amongst us all
with open eyes
and quiet hearts.