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Lillian here, delighted to host today’s Quadrille session at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe.

The quadrille is a poetry form created by folks here at dVerse. It’s a poem of exactly 44 words, sans title. The pub host (me today) provides one word that must be included within the body of the poem. Folks may use a form of the word or the word itself. A synonym for the word does not fulfill the prompt.

Thinking about our lives today, we’re faced with a 24/7 news cycle. Our cell phones ding with updates and we sometimes face folks who shoot from the hip with their words, rather than taking the time to listen, analyze and then respond. We’ve all heard the phrase “silence is golden”. But for some who lose a spouse or partner or child – someone close to them – silence can be deafening. Emily Dickinson said “Saying nothing sometimes says the most.” Abraham Lincoln purportedly said “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt”. Many poets have written about silence, or at the very least, included that word in their poem.

Silence by Billy Collins

There is the sudden silence of the crowd
above the player not moving on the field
and the silence of the orchid.
The silence of the falling vase
before it strikes the floor,
the silence of the belt
when it is not striking the child.
The stillness of the cup and the water in it,
the silence of the moon and the quiet of the day
far from the roar of the sun.
The silence when I hold you to my chest,
turn away.
And there is the silence of this morning
which I have broken with my pen,
a silence that had piled up all night
like snow falling in the darkness of the house–
the silence before I wrote a word
and the poorer silence now

So – if you haven’t guessed it by now, the word I’d like you to include in your quadrille today is “silence”. You may use a form of the word, for example “silent.” You may not however, use a synonym for the word.

New to dVerse?  Need to be refreshed on the rules? Here’s what to do:

  • Write a quadrille (a poem of EXACTLY 44 words, not including the title) AND include the word “silence” or a form of the word within the body of the poem. A synonym for silence does not fulfill the prompt. It must be the word, or a form of the word.
  • Post the poem to your blog AND add the exact URL for your poem to Mr. Linky below.
  • REMEMBER to either TAG dVerse in your post, or include a link at the end of your poem that leads readers back to dVerse (https://dversepoets.com). 
  • If you do not TAG or include a link to dVerse at the end of your post, I will gently remind you to do so. After all, this will increase your readership and comments, and others will find dVerse and hopefully join in the fun. If you do not add the TAG or link after my reminder, I will remove your post from Mr. Linky. I do not want to do that! So please do include the TAG or link!