The Silent World
︎︎︎ Lawrence Bridges
︎ OCT 13, 2021
It was strange at first,
to classify my old journals
as so much mind noise.
This allowed me to sweep away
old life kindly and live today
inside the same loud machine —
my mind — and see thought
as long sheets of random music
with an occasional poem of melody.
Not much of a story, this,
if you’re looking for relief
from your own noisy head
but a poem is a device
that teaches you how to write
no poem with no thought other than
the next one, which is your poem.
to classify my old journals
as so much mind noise.
This allowed me to sweep away
old life kindly and live today
inside the same loud machine —
my mind — and see thought
as long sheets of random music
with an occasional poem of melody.
Not much of a story, this,
if you’re looking for relief
from your own noisy head
but a poem is a device
that teaches you how to write
no poem with no thought other than
the next one, which is your poem.
Lawrence Bridges' poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, and The Tampa Review. He has published three volumes of poetry: Horses on Drums, Flip Days, and Brownwood with Red Hen Press.
Also by Lawrence: Description of Poetry