The Silence Could Be Heard

How I spent 4 minutes and 52 seconds of my summer vacation. Recorded yesterday, in the woods. Video YouTube or Vimeo.

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posted by flapjax at midnite (5 comments total)

Recorded live in the woods, in Karuizawa, Nagano-ken, Japan, on August 18, 2011. Here I'm playing the stick dulcimer.

THE SILENCE COULD BE HEARD

i was going to bring you something
i was going to bring you a book of poetry
by a chinese man from the thirteenth century
but when i took the book down from the shelf
it crumbled in my hand
the yellowed pages fell right through my fingers
just like sand

and louder than ten thousand shouted words
the silence could be heard

i was going to tell you something
i was going to tell you about the child i used to be
i was going to plumb the deepest depths of memory
but there were locks on certain doors i couldn't open
they'd been rusted shut
by years and years of steady rain
they're as still as tombstones now
where flowers were never lain

and louder than ten thousand shouted words
the silence could be heard

i was going to kiss you darling
i was going to kiss you as a cloud would kiss the sky
i was so close i saw myself reflected in your eye
but i felt the night approaching
and i knew the daytime was the only place we'd thrive
the two of us are on a train that never will arrive

and louder than ten thousand shouted words
the silence could be heard

Copyright P & C Samm Bennett - all rights reserved
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:00 AM on August 19, 2011

Ah, flapjax, this is really beautiful. Definitely one of your best. I don't have much to say other than that I was very moved by this. Absolutely beautiful and brilliant.
posted by snsranch at 4:03 PM on August 27, 2011

Thanks so much, sns.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:50 PM on August 27, 2011

Yeah, this is really nice. You're really hitting those high notes. Sweet!
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 2:24 AM on August 28, 2011

Thank you, Karlos!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:35 AM on August 28, 2011