Silence in Court

The hour of quiet has arrested us
So that we cannot move for fear of sound.
We shuffle softly in our seats and thus
The silence that we seek is simply found.
Were we to open up our mouths and speak,
To choose communication, we'd betray
The sense of quiet concord that we seek
And hear instead of words an ass' bray.
I cannot choose, therefore, to speak or not
Because we are communal in the choice;
I wonder what in us silence has wrought
And whether we are worse without a voice.
Despite these doubts, I cannot speak a word,
And if I did, I doubt it would be heard.