The productive silence

“You must publish,”

Whisper the mandarins of academia;

If you want security,

If you want promotion,

If you want to stay afloat.

“You must publish,”

They repeat with polished smiles;

More metrics,

More papers,

More breathless pages.

But I choose silence,

A blank space that resists the rush,

A pause where thought

Returns to itself.

For emptiness is not absence:

It is a doorway,

A moment to ask

What research is for.

Close the laptop.

Let the mind wander.

Ideas appear

When we stop chasing them.

Publish? Maybe.

Be still? Often.

Wisdom begins

Where the words end.