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TAMPA BAY • FEBRUARY 23-24 2026

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The Sound Beyond The Silence

There is life in the silence of the early morning mist.  There are sounds that dance in the shadows of the dawn, images that scurry just out of our sight.  It was a restless night with sleep just out of reach.  Life goals that are just out of reach lingering in the distance. Dreams dance in my mind like primitive music from an early time, an ancient pulse.

There is an unfinished puzzle scattered on the table, poems still unwritten, songs unsung and a blank canvas sits on an easel in the corner of the room.  Is it a reminder of an unrealized past or the promise of a future inspiration?  Is the empty road a path traveled or a journey yet to come?

There is a place I seek beyond the silence, beyond the darkness.  It is a place where the early morning sunrise awakens the songbirds, a place where the flowers bloom and fill the air with the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle.

The signpost ahead says the nowhere road is on one side and the lost highway on the other.  Peace is a quest that is often beyond reach.  The garden seems to be only a mystical place, a myth created by the poet’s pen.

There is a sound beyond the silence, a place where pain is frozen.  It is a dark void and unforgiving; yet, behind the locked door hope is alive, dreams still dance and swirl and somewhere unexpected love still walks untouched shores waiting for my return.

Point Of View

This is a poem written when I came off the road in the mid-1970s.  It was a dark time and while reading it again it seems like another person.  What it says to me is no matter how dark the night may seem, hope is a step away, a sunrise away.  The new day always wipes the slate clean.  Those dark days shaped who I am today because I walked past the pain and found that life is filled with so much to believe in.  I truly did find the love of my life, a great career, and wonderful children.  I found that darkness is just that and without the night we have no dreams.

Larry Tyler
Larry Tyler
Awaken the possibilities … then unleash them. After 55 years of successful retail management, I have returned to my passion of writing. I write Poetry, Storytelling, and Short Stories. As a child, I grew up on front porch storytelling. I would sit and listen to my Dad and his brothers tell these great stories that were captivating, and I always wanted to hear more. I wanted to experience the things they talked about. I started writing at a young age and reading everything I could get my hands on. At twelve years old I started a storytelling group and several of my friends became writers or poets. At 16 I hopped box cars and worked the tobacco fields, orange groves, picked cotton, and spent many nights around a campfire listing to life stories. Someone once asked me why I wrote. It consumes an amazing amount of time and I assure you it is not going to make me rich. I write so that my children can touch and feel my words telling of the ones that came before us and the stories they told me. These are the chronicles of our family and even though they come from my childhood memories and are deeply rooted in a child’s remembrance at least they may feel what it was like in the time before them and cherish the things the elders left behind. I am a Columnist & Featured Contributor, BIZCATALYST360 and I have The Writers Café, a group on LinkedIn that features Poets, Writers, Artists, Photographers, and Musicians . On Facebook I have two groups and one page; Dirt Road Storytelling, From Abandoned To Rescue Dogs And Cats, and About Life, Love And Living. As writers, it is true that we honestly do not know what we hold within us until we unleash it. When our words inspire others only then will inspiration return to the writer. I will spend my twilight years in search of the next story, the next poem, and the next image. I will take the time to enjoy my Wife, our Dogs, and Cats, and our amazing new home and I will always find the time to walk down a dirt road I truly hope is that I never have to read another book on Leadership, be on a conference call or see another plan o gram as these were the tool for what I did in life and not about who I am.

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15 CONVERSATIONS

  1. Larry – If we are honest, everyone has been lost in darkness at some point in their lives. What makes a difference is can you still envision the light? Can you see the hope in the despair? Can you hold on long enough to learn the lesson of the darkness and grow as a person. Thanks for sharing this with us. Strong Ink, indeed.

  2. Ahhh, Larry, I want to copy this and leave it on the pillow of every survivor I work with. Do I have your permission? Seriously, I believe that this poem could easily help Those suffering to heal.

    Every night I leave fairy gifts on the pillows of the survivors at our retreats. I have never left a poem and have never thought to either.

    What you see as dark, I see as inspiration. Without The night we have no dreams.

    It made my eyes leak.

  3. Larry, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. When there are clouds on my horizon I recall and gain comfort from the saying “This too shall pass.” It may not offer immediate peace but it sure restores hope. Thanks again.

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