when i go into the forest, i am often overcome 
by an unshakable sense that silence is a place
not a building, but a cosmos

and when i plant my muddy boots on the welcome mat, 
i am there to visit, to knock on the door of silence 
and, if i am lucky, be invited in for tea 
or a long walk with a song sparrow, who is also 
part of the silence

on days when the noise is somehow less tenable
when the world demands to be heard 
and therefore feels entitled to my attention,
i slip into the forest and sit like a Buddha beneath an oak tree 
with nothing but my self, my worn out pack
and a camera for admiring birds

and i look and i listen. through my eyes and ears
i tap softly on the door and silence answers
the song sparrow and i, we walk through
and together, we are on our way home

---

It’s been cool and rainy for the past three days. Yesterday afternoon, during a break in the rain, I saw a Dark-eyed Junco (a kind of sparrow) outside my window–the first of the season. I grabbed my camera and went outside to discover that there were sparrows foraging in some brush piles in the woods beside my home. I saw White-throated Sparrows (also my first of the season), Chipping Sparrows, and a single Song Sparrow, who graciously perched for a few minutes and allowed me to take some photographs.