The silent zone

 A bit tired
of all the talking
and all the horn honking,
the traveler walked to the edge of the town
in search of a quiet place
to sit

 I can still hear the horns,
he said to himself
when he had reached the bottom of the hills
on one side of the town,
so he decided to climb up and over the hills
to see if it was quieter
on the other side

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 From the top of the hills
the traveler could see another town,
but he could not hear
what it had to say

 The town of Silence
was divided into twenty-four zones,
and in each one silence reigned
for a different amount of time

 In Zone One
for one hour each day
everyone would be
as quiet as possible,
and when that hour would be
would change from week to week
One week it might be from two to three in the afternoon
and the next from three to four in the morning

 In Zone Two
everyone would be quiet
for two consecutive hours a day,
and,
as in Zone One,
the quiet time would vary
from week to week

 In Zone Three
the people were quiet for three consecutive hours a day,
in Zone Four for four
and so on

 In Zone Twenty-four
silence was sovereign
the entire day

 The traveler descended
into Silence
and slowly made his way
to Zone Twenty-one

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 After sitting quietly
for quite some time,
after having enjoyed the singing of some birds in a park,
the traveler got up and began to walk
towards Zone Thirteen

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 I too
was suffering from a lack of silence,
said a girl
that the traveler met in a café,
so I moved here
It’s a great place to live
There are tree-lined canals
dividing each zone,
so sounds rarely travel
from zone to zone,
and one can move about
according to one’s need
for silence

 Often silence is more beautiful than words

 Yes
Shall we sit quietly?

 The traveler nodded in agreement,
and the two friends drank tea and sat
in silence

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 In search of the ultimate silence,
the traveler walked to Zone-four
There he sat and meditated
and went further and further inside
beyond the chatter
of the mind
and to the other side

 ♫ ♫ ♫