To listen
Not to hear
Is to sit in stillness
Taking in all that is being said.
It is the quiet nod in a storm of noise
The pause between syllables,
Where meaning settles like dust
On untouched shelves of the soul.
To listen is to lay down your weapons
Of reply, of judgment
Of quick fixes and clever phrases
And instead
offer your presence
like shelter from the rain.
The art of listening
Is the grace of surrender
To let another’s story breathe
Without needing to shape its end.