Poem September 14, 1987 Issue

Standing porter

Margaret R. Zuber

He that hath knowledge
spareth his words.
(Proverbs 17:27)

Tight-lipped
self-righteous
disapproval?
Surely not!
Rather,
humble
quiet listening
followed by
Truth-impelled sharing
or Love-inspired silence.
In this age
of toomuchtalk
What a blessed thing—
to arrest the trivia
the criticism
the complaining
the idle speculation—
before they become words,
being predissolved in the growing understanding
of man's perfect being.