This poem was recently published by 'The Stare's Nest' - poems for a hopeful world
http://thestaresnest.com/2015/04/04/richard-biddle-the-quiet-room/
http://thestaresnest.com/2015/04/04/richard-biddle-the-quiet-room/
The
Quiet Room
Open the door as you would take a breath before
Open the door as you would take a breath before
whispering seductively in a
lover's ear. Let it shush
shut, calmly as an eye
closing into sleep, and step
in onto a carpet of thistledown,
fleece and feathers;
let it absorb the echo of your
footfall . Quicker than
thinking, light and temperature
switch to match your
mood. Nestle into its
telepathic bosom and let this
chamber furnish you with a seat.
As you sit, notice
your tongue numbing, surrender
to this paralysis;
speech is unnecessary.
Study silence. Memories
may come, ignore them, they
are falsehoods.
They will fade. If you are
captivated by the imagined,
concentrate on what is
real. Let your body breathe the
atmosphere of now. Be stilled.
Look up, see the roof
melt into limitless sky.
Watch as walls dissolve,
maybe they were never
there. Finally, as the floor
disappears, leaving you
floating in wordless space, you
are here, aware, experiencing
emptiness, freedom.
