An offer of silence

A friend came over and smiled,
sat down at the table on the porch
and drank some tea

Both maintained elegant and comfortable silence
the entire time
because they never got around to talking
and instead enjoyed
the stillness

Some birds sang their songs
and some crickets sang theirs,
but no thoughts or words disturbed
the peace and calm
of the stillness

On other occasions they had spoken or made music,
but on this night it did not occur
to either of them
to say or do anything
other than drink tea and be,
and after a while the friend rose and nodded
and then walked home