The sufferings of both the workers in salt mines and sea creatures in the ocean would end if

only everybody kept quiet for a moment. The theme of environmental

conservation and Social Justice makes its presence Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go strongly felt in these lines.
Lines 15-21
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing

These lines highlight the devastating consequences of war. It seems that all the troubles in
the world, from the plight of the whales to the horrors of war result from
someone’s inability to keep quiet. Somebody, in some corner of the world takes an
unnecessary action which jeopardizes the fate of everybody else. By writing about those
who “prepare wars”, the speaker hints at the manufactured nature of war which is
intended to satisfy specific interests of interested parties and devastate the lives of others.
The damage done by the conventional, chemical and biological weapons (green wars, wars
with gases, with fire) can be stopped only if and when governments and nations teach
themselves to keep quiet.

If only we could keep quiet, people waging such wars would put on clean clothes, free of the
bloodstains and guilt and would be able to walk hand in hand with the ‘brothers’ in the
shade, in silence and in peace.

Lines 22-26
What I want should not be
confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.
The poet makes it clear that what he’s advocating shouldn’t confused with total
inactivity, for total inactivity means death and he has nothing to do with death. In his own
words: I have no truck with death.

Lines 27-34
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
 perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with
death.
These are perhaps among the most insightful of lines in the poem where a stark reality of
the modern life is highlighted : of being intensely caught up in the web of rush and
activity to the extent of not understanding ourselves. It is the tragedy of the modern world
where people are too busy to live. If everybody kept quiet for a single moment, a huge
silence may interrupt the sadness of being too busy to understand ourselves. Our inability to
keep quiet results in our failure to understand ourselves and others.
The monotonous rush of life makes individuals threaten oneself with death and their failure
to keep quiet make nations threaten each other with wars. Thus, the silence which results
from keeping quiet isn’t only an “exotic one”. It is also an introspective one. It is a soothing
silence that can heal the self-inflicted wounds of humanity.
The poem ends on a positive note by saying that perhaps we can learn the importance of
keeping quiet from nature :

Perhaps the Earth can teach us

as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

These lines bring to light a very important fact – that mere movement and rush should not
be confused with life. Perhaps this is the mistake we have been committing all our lives. We
have confused movement with life. Perhaps this is why we need to keep quiet: to know the
difference between mindless movement and meaningful living. Perhaps this realization may
help us appreciate life and perhaps this is the reason why the poet helps us remain with this
realization before quietly exiting the scene, letting us fully understand, absorb and
appreciate what it means to keep quiet:
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.