Quiet

Quiet
Gloria Attoun (Ah-TUNE)
4:32

You lie on the couch with your head in a book
I chop onions in the new kitchen nook
The air is thick with the lack of words
Nothing is heard but that low flying bird

Dogs sniff the air, turn around and then sigh.
The babies are grown , when did they last cry?
Some hate to yell, some dread a fight,
You say its worse to feel all that quiet.

I don’t talk
you don’t hear
We turn our backs
And both dissappear

Lights are low, the sun finally set
It’s just us here--no news no calls
I hold it in, unlike my Dad
Who threw fine plates against the walls

You be the one to take the first step.
I’ll be the one to say the first word
You be the one to give and not get
I’ll be the one that doesn’t need to be heard.

You finish a chapter and come to the kitchen
Open the fridge for a bottle of beer
You look at me and I look at you
We both turn our heads to the side tryin’ to hear.

I put down my knife we go to the couch
You’ve dropped your book and lost your place
I put my hand across your moth
You gently touch my questioning face

You be the one to lift off the weight
I’ll be the one to risk being wrong
You be the one to build it back up
I’ll be the one to make sure it’s strong

The lights are low, the sun finally set
It’s just us here, no news, no calls
It’s good that no one else can hear
What’s going on inside these walls.