The silence, listening

What becomes the obvious thing,

so obvious it is almost unnoticed

at first, is the silence, overwhelming,

so profound even the cows on the bluff

across the river are silent, even the

river below the cows on the bluff

is silent, even the birds flying

over the bluff and the river

are silent, as if creation

awaits God’s voice.

Photograph: Shaw Nature Reserve, Gray Summit, Mo., Jan. 20, 2014.