THE SECRET QUAKER BROADCASTING NETWORK
operates at 110 watts
of pure silence,
broadcasting nightly
from Midwestern insomnia farms
and rent-controlled quadrants
of antique Philadelphia.
The base-station operators
work all night, bouncing their signals
through police and federal emergency channels,
sending out public service
announcements
in paragraphs of absolute quiet.
All over America
the bedside radios emit waves
of soundlessness
to millions of sleepers, transmitting
between baseball games and the BBC
on caffeine-generated frequencies.
At daybreak the yawning technicians
take down their broad-brimmed hats
and antennas and cellular satellites
and disappear into their invisible First Amendment rights,
while buzzer alarms and wake-up calls
and bursting Mr. Coffee vats
lower the sky on bright
government chains. And nothing
is louder than how you say that.
(From ‘The Grammar of Nails’)
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
one of my favorites. “paragraphs of absolute silence” gives me a sense of peace.