TALKING
And then a scholar said, "Speak of Talking."
And he answered, saying:
You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;
And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude
of your heart you live in your lips, and sound
is a diversion and a pastime.
And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.
For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words
many indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.
There are those among you who seek
the talkative through fear of being alone.
The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes
their naked selves and they would escape.
And there are those who talk, and without knowledge
or forethought reveal a truth which they
themselves do not understand.
And there are those who have the truth within them,
but they tell it not in words.
In the bosom of such as these
the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.
When you meet your friend on the roadside or
in the market place, let the spirit in you move
your lips and direct your tongue.
Let the voice within your voice speak
to the ear of his ear;
For his soul will keep the truth of your heart
as the taste of the wine is remembered
When the colour is forgotten and the vessel is no more."