In Silence

It is ok to love quietly

like air loves a secret scent,

like a bud breaks out in stillness,

like a starfish sings to god.

In silence is healing--

cells rebuild in tenderness,

soundless as the moon,

as silent as the pen

trailing these words behind,

quietly loving.

J. Pratt-Walter

copyright 2020

Breath

I have called forth

breath from my breath,



but what can we do

when lungs resist, turn silent,



when the air itself

declines my invitation?


J. Pratt-Walter, (c) 2020

Black Cat

I walk in shadows

like midnight's missing cat –

oh, to see the sun again, some

unmade day, to draw near you,

hungry for light. . .

but this thin lost animal

is silent as rests between the notes

of your songs,

an eclipse without a passage

to hope.

J. Pratt-Walter
6/2016