The Art of Saying Nothing

 

 

 

There is music and dance

There is drama and art,

There is theatre and mime

All playing their part.

 

The limbs are employed

And the vocal chords,

There is comedy and tragedy

Commoners and Lords.

 

The speechified moments

Of oration and rhetoric

Combined with the musical:

Calypso and operatic.

 

They all have their values

Some high some low

And they make a statement,

That’s why we go.

 

We come away with the feeling

We got value for money,

They all said something

And we all agree.

 

 

But there is an art form

In which nothing is said,

There is much innuendo, though,

When between the lines is read.

 

It is prominent in the church

And in Parliament also,

For different reasons of course,

And that we all know.

 

He preached for an hour

But I can’t tell what he said,

It was the art of saying nothing

And I’m not that well-read.

 

Many speechify in Parliament

In a passionate flow

But Hansard will reveal

There is nothing to show.

 

The art of saying nothing

By clergymen and MPs

Would make a great title,

Don’t you agree?

 

 

I am reminded of a time

When in the House of Commons

A famous orator waited patiently

For the Speaker to beckon.

 

The presenter was boring

And his listeners fell asleep,

All except this famous orator

Who was next to speak.

 

Finally, the opportunity came

And he calmly said that day,

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker,

I too, have nothing to say.”

 

Perhaps the shortest speech

By a politician anywhere

Coming after the longest speaker

That had nothing to say.

 

It is an art form

That is so unlike the others

That many are mesmerized

And this is the bother.

 

“O that was a great speech!”

What a lovely word!

And I sit back and I wonder,

Are they absurd?

 

The art of saying nothing

And they really mean it,

This art form has been perfected 

Merely through habit.

 

Stewart Russell © October 20, 2021