THE GREAT VOICE

I WHO have heard solemnities of sound — 

The throbbing pulse of cities, the loud roar

Of ocean on sheer ledges of gaunt rock.









The chanting of innumerable winds

Around white peaks, the plunge of cataracts,

The whelm of avalanches, and, by night, 

The thunder's panic breath — have come to know

What is earth's mightiest voice — the desert's voice — 

Silence, that speaks with deafening tones of God. 

Clinton Scollard