Types of Silence: a collective list compiled between May 1 and May 3, 2020

The silence of a bad internet connection
The silence of waiting for a phone call
The silence of a finished book
The silence of a sleeping cat
The silence of a break in the rain
The silence of new buds blooming
The silence of an antique plate, lying smashed and scattered on the floor
The silence of elves when people pass by
The silence of waiting for bad news
The silence of the world holding its breath


The silence of ignored pain
The silence of a brilliant idea, lost
The silence of confusion
The silence of not saying anything because it would be rude to comment
The silence of predawn
The silence of a text, forgotten and left unread
The silence of two people on a video call, longing for each other
The silence of 174 miles, the distance between you and me
The silence of the coward
The silence of the ache nobody sees


The silence of emptied park
The silence of the house he won’t come back to
The silence of insensate stones
The silence of savoring that first cup of morning coffee
The silence of the just-filled bird feeder waiting for visitors
The silence of waving to others from 6 feet away
The silence of a baseball stadium waiting for the pitch
The silence of contemplating the empty canvas
The silence of writing the dreaded letter
The silence of a sulking child


The silence when a concert ends, just before the applause begins
The silence when your car hits a patch of black ice
The silence of shock — felt in the pit of your stomach
The silence of fear
The silence when you realize you’ve made a terrible mistake
The silence of the naughty child
The silence of disappointment
The silence after meditation
The silence when the phone stops ringing
The silence of snow falling on the ocean


The silence after tears
The silence during joyful memories
The silence of a back alley viewed from a hotel window
The silence of the room around my thoughts at night
The silence of a flat roof
The silence of a crawlspace
The silence of an attic
The silence of a prison cell after the door is closed
The silence on top of Mount Washington that I didn’t know existed
The silence that became my mother’s eyes toward the end


The silence that abides in all trees
The silence that arrives when deep friendship settles into itself
The silence of tears falling inside your heart
The silence of daffodils waving in the breeze
The silence in your car when you're all alone going nowhere in particular
The silence / rest between musical notes without which there would be no melody or rhythm
The silence before telling the truth
The silence of an earring that has lost its mate
The silence of of a loose ring, slipping off my finger
The silence of a tube of lipstick, unused for decades


The silence of a rainbow, fading
The silence after a raucous mental storm
The silence at the completion of my exhale
The silence of a still lake at dawn
The silence of my dull depression
The silence of my own sweet soul
The silence when the Jimi Hendrix song ends
The silence in your smile
The silence of touch
The silence of my deaf dad’s world


The silence of gum inside my pocket after washing my pants
The silence of his final breath
The silence of the platform after a fast moving train has left the station
The silence of morning when the garbage trucks depart
The silence of a searching eye
The silence of summer as I dip my head below the surface of the water
The silence of a deleted email
The silence of defeated desire
The silence of a jet stream drifting above my head
The silence of my 1968 Royal electric typewriter gathering dust in the attic


The silence of a restaurant cocktail shaker awaiting ice and a customer
The silence of the snowblower on a mid-July day
The silence of a raccoon in the tree above my car
The silence of an albino skunk as it scurries between my feet
The silence of the King Fisher just before spotting dinner in the creek below
The silence of a line of industrious leaf-eating ants
The silence of her inaudible voice beneath the protective cloth mask
The silence of a grasshopper cupped in my granddaughter’s hands
The silence of freshly-cut grass
The silence of a heron moving through the rushes

The silence of an echo on the moon
The silence of the last word in an argument
The silence of the printer when it stops
The silence of a sleeping baby
The silence of  a fog horn when the blast ends
The silence of your breath behind a mask
The silence of the clothes hanging in my closet
The silence of the orange glow of a Himalayan salt lamp
The silence of an unplayed piano
The silence of a full moon hiding behind a cloud


The silence of the sun resting on a turtle's back
The silence of the tulip before it opens
The silence of goldfish gleaming in a sunlit pond
The silence once the barking dog is let inside
The silence of pages in a new blank journal
The silence of my childhood doll
The silence of the orchid in a season of non-blooming
The silence of the dove spreading warmth over her babies
The silence of the Muse in a dry season
The silence of dandelions invading the garden


The  silence of a worm as the robin pulls it from wet earth
The silence of deep mud below the river's rushing
The silence after the death of your beloved
The silence before someone leaves
The silence after someone leaves
The silence right before the first glimmer of dawn
The silence of the stars on the coldest night of the year
The silence that tells you something you’ve cooked is delicious
The silence when snow stops falling, a reminder that falling snow makes a sound
The silence when the day is over and the house dark, but for two small reading lights


The silence that gives you goosebumps
The silence that soothes a headache
The silence that opens space for ideas
The silence of seeds as they breach the dark crust of potting soil
The silence of the yellow trout lilies, lightly waving in a low-flying breeze
The silence of the soft, white quilt after I’ve made my bed
The silence of the empty bird feeder
The silence of soggy Rice Krispies
The silence of moss on the roof of the old shed
The silence of the painting when I’ve straightened it on the wall


The silence of my bedroom ceiling at 3 a.m.
The silence when I email my teenage granddaughters
The silence between breathing out, breathing in
The silence of the last straw
The silence of moonlight through a white curtain
The silence of weeds around my mother’s gravestone
The silence of cornstalks on a windless afternoon
The silence of an ice cube melting
The silence of a rocking chair after the children are grown
The silence of thankfulness when there is too much to give thanks for


The silence of the teardrop as it rolls off of her cheek
The silence of the room during deep meditation
The silence of despair after surrender
The silence of the child after an intrusion
The silence of the heart after its last beat
The silence of the earth following a soaking rain
The silence of the fawn under the pine bough
The silence of the woman when all is lost
The silence of the sleeping village at 3 a.m.
The silence from unspoken words that could have made a difference


The silence of the ventilator just after it is turned off
The silence in the synagogue as the last candle is blown out
The silence of a book I’ve been meaning to read for a long time
The silence of a canoe gliding across still water
The silence of a broken pencil
The silence of my inner clown
The silence of an unsent letter
The silence after a terrible thought
The silence of “I can't believe I said that . . .”
The silence of not knowing what to say


The silence in the middle of an argument
The silence of kids playing — a sudden silence that means trouble
The silence of a memory that shuts out the present
The silence in those seconds as you pass from awake to asleep
The silence of midnight in the suburbs
The silence of an unopened pinecone
The silence of one pebble in my pocket
The silence of a spinach seed in the earth, not yet sprouted
The silence of birds as the spring storm descends
The silence of boys, when all goes quiet because they broke something


The silence of all the things we cannot say
The silence after I say too much
The silence of a prayer held deep inside my chest
The silence of houseplants, no judgment from them
The silence of my dog as the sun sets and sleep arrives
The silence inside of me, just before I begin something difficult
The silence of this car packed to the gills, the engine not yet started
The silence of a fawn beside the trail, hidden by its mama
The silence of a poem after it has been read aloud
The silence of a lazy cloud


The silence of trees standing, waiting
The silence of light introducing the dawn
The silence of a mourning heart
The silence of the road ahead
The silence of a woman saying goodbye to her dad
The silence of the past
The silence of a soft kiss
The silence of humility and forgiveness
The silence of true wisdom
The silence of aging


The silence of feeling alone
The silence of an internal prayer
The silence of a lullaby sung by a summer’s sun
The silence of regret
The silence of a lost friendship
The silence of drifting off to sleep while sitting in a cozy chair
The silence of a secret love
The silence of eternity
The silence of the unknown
The silence of seeing oneself in another

The silence at the center of a pause
The silence at the bottom of the swimming pool, near the drain
The silence after we leave
The silence before and the silence after and the silence during
The silence of the frozen sea
The silence between drips after the rain stops
The silence of doing something just a little bit sneaky and not wanting to be found out
The silence of the unreturned wave
The silence of a Sunday morning, very early
The silence after saying the words “I love you”


The silence of fog, filling the crevices between the spruce trees
The silence of no cat
The silence of Quaker meeting
The silence of the setting sun as it slips into the lake without a single splash
The silence of disapproval
The silence of my neighbor’s little boy — two panes of glass between us
The silence of unfurling ferns and purple violets opening
The silence of a hibernating rodent
The silence after the last leaf falls
The silence of the cabin in the dead of winter 


The silence of a cup of tea
The silence of outer space
The silence at the bottom of the ocean
The silence at the end of a song
The silence of fog settling on the hill at midnight
The silence of the dog circling on her bed
The silence of dough rising in my grandmother’s bowl
The silence of the star blazing across the dark horizon just before dawn
The silence of my heartbeat unheard by anyone but me
The silence of lit candles, hoar frost forming on windows, and leaves heavy with dew


The silence of the house as sleep becomes elusive
The silence of lying in bed before I start thinking
The silence before remembering we are in a pandemic
The silence of being alone in my house
The silence just before the coffee kettle whistles
The silence of the bird's nest cradled on my porch
The silence before I turn on the radio or the television
The silence of passing people 6 feet apart, wearing masks
The silence of smiling behind my mask
The silence all day long, just waiting, waiting


The silence before telling the truth
The silence of a strand of origami cranes
The silence before the start of a family Zoom session
The silence of a Little Free Library, empty of books
The silence of turning pages in a book I am reading with the Kindle app
The silence of Tibetan prayer flags on my neighbor’s porch
The silence of my rage, rarely expressed
The silence after the woodpecker flies away
The silence of a locked door
The silence before that last whispered “good-bye”

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A great big NOISY “Thank You” to all these wonderful contributors:

Anne Killlian-Russo
Beth Evans
Betty L. Spero
Caroline Gates-Lupton
Ellen Shapiro Wiernicki
Fran Helmstadter
Gary Russo
Ian M. Shapiro
Jai Hari Meyerhoff
Jayne Demakos
Jim Mazza
Judith Sornberger
Kate Halliday
Kathy Kramer
Leslie Howe               
Margaret Dennis
Marty Blue Waters
Maryam Wilson
Peaches Gillette
Saskya van Nouhuys
Sheila Ann Dean
Sue Norvell
Susan Annah Currie
Victoria Jordan
Virginia Fenton
Yvonne Fisher
Zee Zahava