Great composers, singers and performers
know the Quiet Secret -

a quietness
so still

that to the breathing
it is inaudible.

When
a room of men and women

hold
their collective breath

to catch
the faint feathers of sound

falling
from the distant podium,

it's simply mystical.

The tender pizzicato;
the sotto voce -

fragile in the vast air.

The hum
of a thousand

afraid, attentive bodies,

stiller than they ever are,
glimpsing nothing from afar.