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
Within the sound of
silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
Beneath
the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my
eyes were stabbed
By the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And
touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People
talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing
songs that voices never share...
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of
silence.
"Fools," 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 raindrops fell,
And echoed in the wells of silence.
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign
flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs
said: "The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And
tenement halls,
And whisper'd in the sound of silence."