Silence is a Prayerful Sound: A Sestina by Shelli Rottschafer We are here with sorrowful eyes and they are there. Sun rose early and came with a message no one expected. That kind of sound rings havoc upon swollen eardrums until it deadens in mourning. Shadow dissipates from east to west. Morning dew glistens on recently mowed grass. Their imported Russian Olive tree until only a week before came invasively into their garden. Its windchimes in sound- less branches, doves’ nest not warmed overnight. Eggs no longer breathe through blue tinted shell. Morning’s awkward rest aches for the sound of cooing doves, of twinkling chime. There along the quieted street out front came a mechanical churning. Dogs let loose in desperation, hid until that chain promised something other than their fear. Until today resentments changed no- thing, but empty words. Promises came with broken treaty, broken frontiers. Broken this morning the eggs lay in smithereens upon that green grass. There the dog cowers in their approach, wondering what that sound brings next. Is it the sound of their name called until voice is hoarse? Or is there only the wailing of sirens, wailing of children. No the olive branch is not lofted in offering. Noah’s morning prayer, looking out from Mount Ararat came bearing no covenant of resilience. Rainbow came and went. Echoes are the sound murmured in question. Mornings are supposed to provide relief. Until a new day rises, until the anchor of hatred dislodges. No compromises will be met. And Noah’s boat will drift out there, into infinity Silence is a prayerful sound It came drifting upon this strange morning And no, the world doesn’t want to know until we’re there. Copyright 2023 by Shelli Rottschafer
Shelli Rottschafer completed her doctorate from the University of New Mexico in 2005 in Latin American Contemporary Literature. From 2006 until 2023 Rottschafer taught at a small liberal arts college in Grand Rapids, MI as a Professor of Spanish. Her academic research focuses on Latinx, Chicanx, and Indigenous American Literatures as well as Eco-criticism and Nature Writing. Summer 2023 Shelli followed her passion and returned to graduate school to begin her Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Poetry at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado.
Shelli’s wanderlust draws her back to her querido Nuevo México where she explores the trails with her partner, photographer Daniel Combs, and their Great Pyrenees-Border Collie rescue puppy. Her heart belongs to the sunsets reflected upon the Sangre de Cristo mountain range and shadowed in el Río Grande. Together they reside in Louisville, Colorado and El Prado, Nuevo México.
