I Heard in the Shell~ a Poem by James Broughton

From the book Packing Up for Paradise: Selected poems 1946-1996.

I heard in the shell

all the hymns of hell,

I heard all all the angels crying,

I heard the earth

in pangs of birth

and all the galaxies dying.

I heard in the shell

the resounding well

of all humanity’s voices,

I heard every shout

of laughter and doubt

in the crashing war of choices.

I heard in the shell

the throb of each cell

from flower and rock and feather.

But loudest of all

rang the quiet call

of Yes and No singing together.