Take great care to restrain your tongue and be circumspect. Let only discretion and charity open your mouth. And practice the advice of all the Saints to break silence only with words that are worth more than silence. Silence is one of the most certain signs that God dwells in a soul.

When silence enters
The whole universe changes
But the birds still sing.

I gather my words with a spoon
and they turn into soup!

I gather my words with a rake
and the beautiful fertile earth shows --

I gather my words with your love
and I become silent.

Silent and still
my father stands
before our summer shelter

He is thinking a prayer
to the Holy Ones,
asking them
this day
to keep our feet
on the trail of beauty.

Filling the silence
of my father's prayer
I hear the bluebird's song.