The Quiet Machine

by Ada Limón

Ada Limón

Im learning so many different ways to be quiet. There's how I stand in the lawn, that's one way. There's also how I stand in the field across from the street, that's another way because I'm farther from people and therefore more likely to be alone. There's how I dont answer the phone, and how I sometimes like to lie down on the floor in the kitchen and pretend Im not home when people knock. There's daytime silent when I stare, and a nighttime silent when I do things. There's shower silent and bath silent and California silent and Kentucky silent and car silent and then there's the silence that comes back, a million times bigger than me, sneaks into my bones and wails and wails and wails untilI can't be quiet anymore. That's
how this machine works.





Last updated March 11, 2023