APPLICATION ORIENTED COURSE IN

WRITING FOR RADIO

Programme: BDP
Assignment Code: BDP/BEGA/TMA/2016-17
Max Marks: 100
Note: This assignment has 8 questions. Attempt all 8 and answer each question in
approximately 300-350 words unless stated otherwise.
1. Define mass communication. Describe the role of radio in mass communication. (10)
2. While designing a radio script, what devices should be used by the scriptwriter to first
engage and then to sustain the interest of the listeners? (10)
3. State the nature of a radio documentary and discuss the mode of research and narration to
be followed in preparing a radio documentary. (10)
4. Discuss the various components of a radio play. (10)
5. Write a radio script for a discussion on any one of the following: (15)
a) Use and misuse of mobiles
b) Creche-a second home for infants and children
c) Are men now the marginalized sex?
6. Script Public Service Announcements for the radio on any three of the following: (5 ×
3=15)
a) Ban Smoking
b) Blood Donation
c) Ban Child Marriage
d) Join the Indian Army/Armed forces
7. Write a script for a radio play based on a ghost story you have heard, indicating sound
effects, narration and dialogues wherever needed. (15)
8. Based on the following poem, script a story for the radio, targeting class IX students,
inserting sound effects, music and narration: (15)
The Listeners
By Walter De La Mare
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller’s head:

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And he smote upon the door again a second time:
‘Is there anybody there?’ he said
But no one descended to the Traveller:
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller’s call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
‘Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:-
‘Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word,’ he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners,
Though every word he spoke
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.

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 Answers
SECTION-I
1. Define mass communication. Describe the role of radio in mass communication. (10)
Ans.: Mass communication is a process in which a person, group of people, or an
organization sends a message through a channel of communication to a large group of
anonymous and heterogeneous people and organizations. You can think of a large group of
anonymous and heterogeneous people as either the general public or a segment of the general
public. Channels of communication include broadcast television, radio, social media, and
print. The sender of the message is usually a professional communicator that often represents
an organization. Mass communication is an expensive process. Unlike interpersonal
communication, feedback for mass communication is usually slow and indirect.
Mass communication is "the process by which a person, group of people, or large
organization creates a message and transmits it through some type of medium to a large,
anonymous, heterogeneous audience." This implies that the audience of mass communication
are mostly made up of different cultures, behavior and belief systems. Mass communication
is regularly associated with media influence or media effects, and media studies. Mass
communication is a branch of social science that falls under the larger umbrella of
communication studies of communication
The history of communication stretches from prehistoric forms of art and writing through
modern communication methods such as the Internet. Mass communication began when
humans could transmit messages from a single source to multiple receivers. Mass
communication has moved from theories such as the hypodermic needle model (or magic
bullet theory) through more modern theories such as computer-mediated communication.
Radio is widely used mass communication medium and has a great potentiality in
dissemination of information as radio signals cover almost entire population. More than 177
radio stations are there across the country. About 97 percent of the population is reached by
the radio.
Radio being a convenient form of entertainment caters to a large audience. With the advent of
transistors this medium hrs reached the common man in urban and rural areas of India,
though the utilization of radio is more among rural elites.
It has advantages over the other mass media like television and newspapers in terms of being
handy, portable, easily accessible and cheap. It is the most portable of the broadcast media,
being accessible at home, in the office, in the car, on the street or beach, virtually everywhere
at any time.
Radio is effective not only in informing the people but also in creating awareness regarding
many social issues and need for social reformation, developing interest and initiating action.
For example, in creating awareness regarding new policies, developmental projects and
programs, new ideas etc. It can help in creating a positive climate for growth and
development.

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It widens the horizons of the people and enlightens them, thereby gradually changing their
outlook towards life. Research has shown that radio is an effective medium for education
when it is followed up with group discussion and question- answer session.
In India, radio with its penetration to the rural areas is becoming a powerful medium for
advertisers. It gets 3 percent of the national advertising budget. Radio is still the cheap
alternative to television, but is no longer the poor medium in advertising terms.
Because radio listening is so widespread, it has prospered as an advertising medium for
reaching local audiences. Moreover, radio serves small highly targeted audiences, which
makes it an excellent advertising medium for many kinds of specialized products and
services.
As far as commercials are concerned, no one is able to tune out commercials easily as is
possible with remote control devices and VCRs. It is thought that radio's ability to attract
local advertisers hurts mainly newspapers, since television is less attractive to the small, local
advertiser.
2. While designing a radio script, what devices should be used by the scriptwriter to first
engage and then to sustain the interest of the listeners? (10)
Ans.: There is a reason why radio often loses out to television in the battle for audience.
Radio relies on only one of our senses to communicate its message, whereas television and
video targets both our auditory and visual senses. Since both the eyes and ears are engaged, it
is often easier to convey a message—or at least provide for two different types of sensory
distraction. You can convey the emotion of an actor on video using both visual cues (such as
facial expressions) and audio cues (such as tone of voice). If the audience does not pick up on
one of the cues, they may still pick up on the other thereby understanding the emotion being
portrayed. As radio does not have this luxury, it makes it all the more difficult to develop
radio programming that engages and captivates your audience. This is because you have to
use audio not only to convey your message, but also to help your audience imagine the
corresponding visuals in their minds.
All drama is a form of communication. Radio serial drama created for development purposes,
because it is received entirely through the ears of listeners, is a form of oral communication.
Those who design and write radio social dramas, therefore, can benefit from an
understanding of the theories that clarify oral communication. More than two thousand years
ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed some principles of persuasive oral
communication that hold as true for today's radio scripts as they did for the orators whom
Aristotle addressed. Among the principles Aristotle outlined in his book Rhetoric are that
speakers should: be credible (believable), excite the emotions of the audience, and provide
proof to support their arguments. Aristotle's principles were an early form of communication
theory, that is, an explanation of how people use and are affected by communication. Modern
communication theorists have expanded on the ideas of Aristotle and others in response to the
growth of mass media over the past 100 years. Although communication theories help
explain how communication leads to changes in thinking and behavior, they can never predict
exactly how people will react to a message. Still, an understanding of these theories that

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come from extensive and systematic research conducted in virtually every part of the world
can help the designers and writers of radio drama to fashion programs with the potential to
bring about positive social change. The theories can provide an understanding of how people
are most likely to respond to a communication such as a radio drama under given conditions.
During the design process, the design team of writers, program managers, researchers, and
other professionals can use theoretical explanations to guide program development (Chapter
1 discusses the role of the design team). Theory, for example, may help determine what type
of communication is needed to encourage the audience to make specific behavioral changes.
Theory may also suggest motivations for a character's behavior or anticipate how listeners
will respond to a plot twist. In this way, scripts draw insight from tried and true explanations
of communication and behavior change, while ensuring that those insights become an integral
part of a compelling story.
3. State the nature of a radio documentary and discuss the mode of research and narration to
be followed in preparing a radio documentary. (10)
Ans.: The very nature of the documentary is that it is “unscripted”. It is meant to capture
some aspect of “real life”. Then it is up to the you (the writer) to take the messiness of real
life and create some kind of story.
As the scriptwriter, you will need to examine all the “unscripted” & “raw” footage and create
some sort of structure out of it.
It will seem daunting at first (you WILL feel overwhelmed at some point), but think of it as
putting together a great big puzzle. It will look like a jumbled mess at first, but bit by bit, the
big picture will begin to reveal itself as you mix and match the various pieces. How to write a
script:
Transcribe your footage – This may seem like a tedious and boring task at first, but TRUST
ME, you will thank yourself in the end. This is where you begin to "log" and categorize the
various "pieces" of your puzzle.
Review the BIG picture. What are the main elements (characters and plots) that have surfaced
through shooting process that create the tapestry of your overall story. What are the key
“moments”?
Create Scenes. Take these “moments” and divide your documentary into mini-stories (scenes)
that, together, create the documentary.
Build a Roller Coaster. Take these scenes and begin creating a “Roller Coaster” ride for your
audience. What kind of “ride” are you taking them on? Think about the powerful moments in
your story and how to write a script to build up those moments. A fantastic book that
describes this process is Writing Great Screenplays for Film and TV by Dona Cooper.
Villain and Hero. Another important part of scriptwriting is determining the villain(s) and
hero(s) in your story. A hero/villain can be a person, thing or event. (A tornado can be the
villain).

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BEGINNING, MIDDLE and an END. Of course, every story has a beginning, middle and
end. If you can outline your story in these three general categories, then you can begin to fill
in the details.
The Ending. If you have a lot of footage and information to work with, a simple way to
clarify how to start building your script is to think about how you’re going to END your
documentary. Everything else leads up to that.
Start Strong. I cannot express enough the importance of how you START your documentary.
This is when you “hook” the audience and set the tone for the entire program. The beginning
of your film should:
Establish the “core message” of the documentary (this often includes a specific “incident”
that is controversial or offsets the balance of forces in some way).
Create curiosity -- set up the “problem” or “issue” in the most compelling way possible to
tantalize or grab your audience’s interest. Create a situation that makes the audience ask,
“Why is this happening?”
What's in the Middle? It’s easy for scriptwriters to get “lost” in the middle (body) section of
the script. Just keep asking yourself, “does this scene/story or information move the story
forward and lead to the ending conclusion?” Don’t get attached to any particular footage or
information. If it doesn’t fit, leave it OUT. You can always put it in the “Bonus” or “Deleted
Scenes” section of your DVD.
Script Template. Finally, once you have a general outline of your story, begin building your
script using a 2-column script template: one column for audio, one column for video.
4. Discuss the various components of a radio play. (10)
Ans.: Radio drama achieved widespread popularity within a decade of its initial development
in the 1920s. By the 1940s, it was a leading international popular entertainment. With the
advent of television in the 1950s, however, radio drama lost some of its popularity, and in
some countries has never regained large audiences. However, recordings of OTR (old-time
radio) survive today in the audio archives of collectors and museums, as well as several
online sites such as Internet Archive.
As of 2011, radio drama has a minimal presence on terrestrial radio in the United States.
Much of American radio drama is restricted to rebroadcasts or podcasts of programs from
previous decades. However, other nations still have thriving traditions of radio drama. In the
United Kingdom, for example, the BBC produces and broadcasts hundreds of new radio
plays each year on Radio 3, Radio 4, and Radio 4 Extra. Like the USA, Australia ABC has
abandoned broadcasting drama but New Zealand RNZ continues to promote and broadcast a
variety of drama on its airways. Podcasting has also offered the means of creating new radio
dramas, in addition to the distribution of vintage programs.
Radio drama achieved widespread popularity within a decade of its initial development in the
1920s. By the 1940s, it was a leading international popular entertainment. With the advent of
television in the 1950s, however, radio drama lost some of its popularity, and in some
countries has never regained large audiences. However, recordings of OTR (old-time radio)

6
survive today in the audio archives of collectors and museums, as well as several online sites
such as Internet Archive.
As of 2011, radio drama has a minimal presence on terrestrial radio in the United States.
Much of American radio drama is restricted to rebroadcasts or podcasts of programs from
previous decades. However, other nations still have thriving traditions of radio drama. In the
United Kingdom, for example, the BBC produces and broadcasts hundreds of new radio
plays each year on Radio 3, Radio 4, and Radio 4 Extra. Like the USA, Australia ABC has
abandoned broadcasting drama but New Zealand RNZ continues to promote and broadcast a
variety of drama on its airways. Podcasting has also offered the means of creating new radio
dramas, in addition to the distribution of vintage programs.
Thanks to advances in digital recording and Internet distribution, radio drama was
experiencing a revival in 2010.
The terms "audio drama" or "audio theatre" are sometimes used synonymously with "radio
drama", however, audio drama or audio theatre may not necessarily be intended specifically
for broadcast on radio. Audio drama can also be found on CDs, cassette tapes, podcasts,
webcasts as well as broadcast radio.
5. Write a radio script for a discussion on any one of the following: (15)
a) Use and misuse of mobiles
Ans.: What is amazing is the extensive use of the mobile/cellphone all over the world. A
report suggests that 1,000 new users are being added every minute globally. We in India have
an impressive growth rate. It is claimed that about 4 million subscribers jump on the mobile
users' bandwagon every month.
Flaunting a mobile telephone is no longer a status symbol. The ubiquitous shiny device has
been lapped up by practically every member of our society, cutting across religion, caste,
gender and income groups — domestic help, hawkers, plumbers, doctors, homemakers,
teachers, students, journalists, engineers, lawyers, et al.
For some users, there is no life without a mobile phone. They take it wherever they go,
including the morning or evening constitutional. During a train or bus journey, one
encounters chatters of various phone users. Ringing tones, with options such as the call of a
cuckoo or the cry of a baby, and other bizarre tones, could be very disturbing.
For a few mobile users, “Time is money” and they would like to use a mobile phone to make
that extra buck. We encountered a doctor who, while examining a patient, got a call on his
cell. Without even uttering an excuse, he went out for another consultation, while the patient
was cooling her heels in the doctor's chair, only to return after an hour. Sometimes, the
mobile users are so grossly engrossed in their talk that they forget the world, much to the
annoyance of those who are around them. Such (ill) ‘manners' are certainly annoying, to say
the least. Though there are regulations about the restrictions on the use of cellphones in
banks, public offices, concerts and others places, these are followed more in the breach than
the observance.

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There is some concern at the radiation and other effects on human beings with prolonged use
of mobile phones, especially by young children. There is a code of conduct in the advanced
countries that advertisements for mobile phones do not target children. No such code appears
to be in place in our country's industry. The government too has kept its hands off this
controversy. However, it would be advisable that children do not use mobile phones for too
long.
Those who use gadgets, with all sorts of the latest technology, could easily surf the Internet
that contains information and websites not in the interest of children. Also, traffic rules
prohibit the use of mobile cell phones while driving. Again, due to the indifferent
enforcement of the rule, drivers are exposing themselves as well as others to danger. The
long-term ill-effects of using the fingers for prolonged SMS should be kept in mind.
Like any technological invention, the mobile phone has its uses and misuses. No one can
deny the fact that a mobile phone is exactly what the doctor ordered in an emergency. The
ability to connect with anyone anywhere with a cellphone 24x7 is remarkable. Of late, the
mobile phone has come into the limelight and it is being put to use for illegal operations —
terrorist attacks, extortions, kidnapping and sex and drug rackets.
6. Script Public Service Announcements for the radio on any three of the following: (5 ×
3=15)
a) Ban Smoking
Ans.: We know that cigarettes are the number one cause of preventable death in the United
States and around the world.
“Tobacco Kills – Quit Now!” is being launched today across Kenya by Dr. Khadijah
Kassachoon, the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Health, to warn people about the
harmful effects of smoking tobacco and particularly the harms of second-hand tobacco smoke
to the unborn, babies and young children; and to encourage smokers to heed the country’s
smoke-free laws and to quit smoking. The Ministry of Health (MoH), with technical and
financial support from World Lung Foundation, is undertaking this important mass media
campaign, which combines public service announcements (PSAs) on TV and radio and
community posters in both Swahili and English.
“Tobacco Kills – Quit Now!” is designed to empower Kenyans with new information about
tobacco’s harms to dissuade them from smoking and to strengthen efforts to protect people
from second-hand tobacco smoke. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke
and only 100% smoke-free environments are effective in protecting the public from tobacco’s
harmful effects. The campaign shows how children exposed to cigarette smoke are more
likely to suffer from severe respiratory infections, ear infections, asthma and sudden infant
death. The campaign will air in all regions of the country from today, for one month.
“Tobacco Kills – Quit Now!” was pretested and rated most effective by Kenyans and other
African audiences. This PSA has been successfully used in Cameroon and The Gambia, and
in more than a dozen other countries, including China, Viet Nam, Australia, Lebanon and
Poland, and has been found to motivate smokers to try to quit. The MOH, in collaboration
with the support of the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse

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(NACADA) has provided information on where to seek help to quit smoking tobacco. The
campaign includes a toll-free help line – accessed by dialing 1192.
b) Blood Donation
Ans.: Blood is, so far, not something we can manufacture in a lab. We’ve come a long way in
reducing the need for blood transfusions, with new surgical innovations to minimize blood
loss in the operating room, and drugs to help a body boost its own blood cell production, but
in the end, many patients can only be helped by a blood transfusion.
When you give blood, you have a direct impact on the lives of people in your community.
The blood you give today will help accident and trauma victims, cancer patients, individuals
with bleeding disorders, newborn babies and many others.
Here is a PSA template you can use for your blood drive:
Every two seconds someone needs blood.
A victim of a car crash or a cancer patient.
The need is urgent, and it never goes away.
Please donate. Anytime. Whatever your blood type. You can find donor centers and blood
drives near you with this link, and you can learn more about blood and the donation process
here. Please share this information, because the need for blood is constant – and every
donation helps.
c) Ban Child Marriage
Ans : The practice of child marriage–matrimony before age 18–continues to
disproportionately affect girls in certain cultures and communities with significant
consequences to their education, health, and social life. Child brides have little say in when or
whom they will marry, have little influence with their husbands and in-laws, have little
opportunity to develop awareness of their rights, and are in no position to claim or demand
them.
Sponsoring a child in a developing country has been a longstanding way for donors around
the world to support underprivileged and vulnerabble communities in order to break the cycle
of violence, poverty, and illiteracy. Donating a small amount of money each month to a child
with charities like Plan International can help girls who are vulnerable to child marriage.
Education is one of the greatest preventatives of child marriage and studies have proven that
the longer a girl stays in school, the less likely she is to marry or become an underaged
mother. In some developing countries education is not free and families cannot afford to send
their child to school and if they do, male children are given priority. By sponsoring a girl
child each month you can help pay for their school fees and help her get the education she
needs to avoid child marriage and to map her own path in life.
Raising awareness about the issue is vital because child marriage has been hidden away for
centuries and needs to be publicly addressed by the community in order to end the daily
suffering of adolescent girls and the continual violation of their human rights. One way of

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doing so is to support and share the work of journalists, artists, photographers and activists to
help raise the plight of child brides.
7. Write a script for a radio play based on a ghost story you have heard, indicating sound
effects, narration and dialogues wherever needed. (15)
Ans.: While there are hundreds of books on writing film screenplays and stage plays, radio
scripting isn't a widely known form. However, because radio is produced with the script in
hand, it is important that the various cues for dialogue, music, and sound effects be able to
quickly and clearly communicate the writer's intentions to the cast and crew for rehearsals
and performance. Here are some suggestions and examples to encourage clearly written radio
drama scripts.
I not only write and produce my own radio dramas, but also re-create classic shows from the
past and perform new works by contemporary writers. Through the years, I have found
rehearsals and performances go more smoothly if the scripts are very precise in their
instructions to cast and crew. This page--which I'll update as new ideas come to me--
addresses the many radio drama conventions and guidelines in an effort to aid writers and
directors--especially those with little radio production experience. I've worked on hundreds of
radio dramas and have honed these techniques to the point where I can produce a 25-minute
show in just two hours--from start to finish--(casting, rehearsal, and performance) for
broadcast or recording. Here's the secret of how you can do it too.
I mostly work in the live production style, where the dialogue, music, and sound effects occur
in real time as the program is being performed for stage, recording, or broadcast. These
guidelines will aid you greatly if you produce in a similar manner, but will also be useful if
you record dialogue separately and then assemble the finished program in post-production.
The intention of writing good radio drama cues is to clearly communicate all instructions,
thereby cutting down on misunderstandings, notes, mistakes, and time. A well-written script
will save everybody headaches and make your shows easier and cheaper to produce.
In explaining the conventions of writing an audio theatre script, I'll work from the general to
the specific, starting with a typical page of a script. Learn to read a professional script, then
write your own, using my free downloadable MS Word radio drama script template.
8. Based on the following poem, script a story for the radio, targeting class IX students,
inserting sound effects, music and narration: (15)
The Listeners
By Walter De La Mare
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,

10
 Above the Traveller’s head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time:
‘Is there anybody there?’ he said
But no one descended to the Traveller:
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller’s call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
‘Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:-
‘Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word,’ he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners,
Though every word he spoke
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.
Ans.: The poem begins with a mystery. We are shown a traveller, but we do not know who
he is, or where he is from, or why he has come. This immediately raises a questioning in the
mind of the reader that continues throughout the poem; but, as we shall see, it is a question
that is never answered. The poet increases the sense of mystery by setting the event at night,

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in the moonlight. The Traveller knocks on the door of a house (we are not told whose it is or
where exactly it is) that seems abandoned. The only response to his knock is a bird that flies
up out of a turret on the house. But there is no human response. It is so quiet that we hear
the Traveller’s horse chomping on the grass “of the forest’s ferny floor.” That just adds to
the mystery — a house in a forest? Is the house beginning to be overgrown by weeds and
trees?
The Listeners" is narrative poem centering a traveler's encounter with the supernatural. It was
first published in London in 1912 by Constable and Company in The Listeners and Other
Poems, a collection of Walter de la Mare's verses.
Setting and Tone
.......The action takes place late on a moonlit evening at a dwelling in a forest. The time is the
late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The tone is serious and the atmosphere is eerie and
otherworldly.
Characters
The Traveller: A man who arrives on horseback late at night to call at a dwelling in a forest.
When he pounds on the door, no one answers.
The Listeners: Phantoms inside the dwelling who listen to the Traveller speaking as he
pounds on the door. They do not respond to him.
Them: The people that the Traveller came to see (line 27). However, these people do not
respond, possibly because they are sleeping, they do not wish to see the Traveller, or they are
now living elsewhere. It is also possible that they died and became the phantom listeners.
Summary
.......A man identified as “the Traveller" arrives on horseback late at night to call at a forest
dwelling. Its turret suggests that it is a mansion or château.
.......The traveler knocks on the door, asking, “Is anybody there?" Spirits—a “host" of them—
gather on steps leading downstairs to listen, but no one answers the door. The traveler knocks
again. Still, no one responds—either by answering the door or looking out a window.
Somehow sensing the presence of the unearthly listeners inside, the traveler says, “Tell them
I came, and no one answered / That I kept my word."
Narration
.......The narrator, or speaker, presents the story in third-person point of view, describing what
is taking place outside the house and what is taking place inside the house.
Rhyme Scheme
.......The rhyming lines are 2 and 4, 6 and 8, 10 and 12, 14 and 16, and so on. All the rhymes
are masculine rather than feminine. In masculine rhyme, only the last syllable of one line
rhymes with the last syllable of another line, as in lines 2 and 4 (door and floor) and 6 and 8
(head and said). In feminine rhyme, the last two syllables of one line rhyme with the last two
syllables of another line, as in ringing and singing.

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.......When we are alone in a house or a desolate tract of country, many of us sometimes sense
that a ghostly presence is observing us. Such moments tend to occur when the sun is down,
the moon is up, and an eerie stillness surrounds us. In “The Listeners," the man identified as
“the Traveller" senses that otherworldly beings are eavesdropping on him. And he responds
to them. They do not respond to him, however. They are there only to listen.
Mystery
.......The poem is a metaphor for the mysteries we ourselves encounter as listeners or as
callers rapping at a door. We go through life asking why, and then seek answers. But we do
not always get them, whether we are looking for them in religion, science, social interaction,
or in ourselves.

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