Sometimes I prefer the silence of the pen over the clatter of the keyboard.  To write in silence, creating silence.  As long as the words are there, it's fine.  I just don't like being rushed, like when I know I only have 10 minutes to play with.  The worst thing for inspiration is a deadline or a time limit.  Kind of like the worst thing for concentration is noise.  But some people love noise; they love talking through the silence, piercing through and cutting it, ending it.  They need an iPod in their ear, they need the roar of planes and cars going by.  Anything to drown out the silence, even if it's the incessant rambling of a TV screen.  They close themselves off and cover their ears from themselves and their deepest voice.  No wonder all the words these days seem empty and lifeless, no wonder the passion is colorless, no wonder so many people walk around distracted, like drones.  I try to keep my distance, but they always manage to interrupt me.  Like an annoying song that sticks in your head that you can't rattle out no matter how hard you try, despite how meaningless you know the song is -- it's rhythm, all you need is one second and then it's engrained. 
      Sometimes you try to be as clear as possible but you're never understood.  Maybe the noise people keep themselves surrounded by has engrained itself into their minds just like that annoying song, and it's drowning me out.  No amount of repetition brings about comprehension.  It's lonely when all you have is your words but no one bothers to hear them, never mind digest them.  It's easier for them to take what they think they know and just carry on, no need to be bothered with new facts or new ideas.  They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  They just keep up with the same behavior.  So when you tell them about animal suffering or human suffering or injustices being dealt upon their freedoms, the iPod speaker fits snugly into the ear and they hum you out with their infectious, noxious song.  They keep living their lies, thinking they're living their lives, when in reality it's doing nothing but harm to themselves and, indirectly, to you.  People don't realize that we are all connected, even to the very air we breathe -- too hard to comprehend, too much of a hassle to wrap their heads around, takes too much time, they gotta hurry on, hurry past, live the "dream" that is only near in their minds, never their hands.  While the outside world suffers on. 
      Sometimes people don't realize the harm they are doing, but god forbid you try to enlighten them.  One less steak or cheeseburger or chicken finger or salmon meal a week would be too unbearable, so who cares about the calf ripped from its mother or the chicken abused and dead within a day of its life?  The chicks in the meat grinder, the bludgeoned pig or seal, the dying of the oceans as our nets strangle the water and suck its life dry.  And it all comes back around, when the people who consume and have no regard are punished with ill health and a blocked mind.  There's no room for light to squeeze on through.
      So what's the solution?  How can we raise awareness and consciousness in a world that enjoys drowning out the important things?  How can we change people who are so blocked off already that they refuse to change?  How can we break through the noise to reach the people that love being surrounded by it?  I wish I knew the answer.  Maybe then my words would no longer be silent, but would be vibrant with the same kind of music that sticks in people's heads, only this music would deliver Truth in its notes and rests. 
      Sometimes I love sewing my words together in silence, but I wish they wouldn't have to remain that way.

- Lisa Selvaggio