* Hush

Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn?
Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends?
Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer
to a question you’ve been asked,
or the hush of a country road at night,
or the expectant pause of a room full of people
when someone is just about to speak, or,
most beautiful of all,
the moment after the door closes and
you’re alone in the whole house?
Each one is different, you know,
and all very beautiful if you listen carefully.

~ Norton Juster

Notes:

• Norton Juster, 85, is an American academic, architect, and popular writer. He is best known as an author of children’s books, notably for The Phantom Tollbooth and The Dot and the Line.
• Photograph: Charlie Imagenes of Model: Leila Amat Ortega via Your Eyes Blaze Out.
• Poem: stepsonmysunlitfloor.