hello darkness my old friend.
i've come to talk with you again.
because a vision softly creeping
left its seeds while i was sleeping.
and the vision that was planted in my brain
still remains with the sound of silence
in restless dreams i walk alone
narrow streets of cobble stone
beneath the hallo of a street lamp,
i turned my collar to the cold and damp
when my eyes were stabbled by the flash of a neon light
that split the night
and touched the sound of silence
and in the naked night i saw ten thousand people may be more
people talking without speaking hearing without listening
people writing songs that voices never share
and no one dare disturb the sound of silence
"fool" said i "you do not know
silence like a cancer grows
hear my words that i might teach you
take my arms that i might reach you
but my words like silent rain-drops fell
and echo-ed in the wells of silence
and the people bow and prayed
to the neon god they made
and the sign flash out its warning
in the words that it was forming
and the sings said "the words of the prophers are
written the subway walls and tenement halls"
and whispered in the sounds of silence
by ma jiali 1999 08 02