Hesychia

A poem

Hesychia (hay-soo-KHEE-ah): a state of inner tranquility and concentration for prayer, a stillness of mind, heart, and body.

I seek a stillness
that is full.
An absence
that is presence.

There are infernal noises
in this world—
the grinding roar
of men’s machines
upon the land,
the cacophonous wail
of our churning cities,
the endless
talktalktalktalktalk
from all devices.

So I sit in my room
and listen to the flicker
of the candle,
or take to the woods,
and the birdsong,
and the wind through the trees.

I am trying to carry
stillness in myself
like a flame,
shielded against the wind
by a trembling hand.