listen

I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.

(Ernest Hemingway)

She put the shell against her ear.
Then rising from her knee,
She closed her eyes, and, pressing hard,
She listened for the sea.

I knew she heard the water roar;
She glowed with childish pride.
To hold the ocean in her hand
Was more than she could hide.

She ran across the sand to me;
I listened for a while
Then tucked the shell within her hand
And nodded with a smile.

I thought that she could learn from me,
But who am I to tell?
She brought the ocean home today;
I only brought a shell.

(Darrell T. Hare)