Dawnings

a little quiet

By Nicholas Hooper

listen

drops of rain making an ever-irregular beat
on roof, on window, on hood, on umbrella, on head

behind that sound is another but we cannot hear it
but it’s there, we know it’s there because when the rain stops
this quietness will be audible: a little breeze, maybe, or a heartbeat

listen

in this noisy world there is a little quiet but
if you wear headphones while you walk down a country lane
you will miss it: all that quietness that surrounds us when the loud stops
and leaves us with a sense of the universe, the world, the trees, the water, the thrush

—————

Image

About Dawnings:
“Every morning at around 5am I get up and go down to my studio. After a short meditation I write down whatever is in my head, giving myself fifteen minutes to do so. Then moving over to the piano (or a more portable instrument like my Ukulele when I'm away), I improvise and record a piece of music inspired by whatever words I just wrote. It is a great way of keeping both my writing and my composing going and I call these small creations Dawnings. They are mostly unedited, like sketches, so that they keep that fresh feeling of an early morning discovery.”

— Nick Hooper