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The poem opens with the poet’s appeal to begin with a count to twelve followed by a moment of silence. The poet links silence with hope for a moment of togetherness. The repetition of the poet’s request to count to twelve in the first and the last stanzas creates a personal space of silence in the poem. The poet seeks this moment of silence as a moment to introspect and meditate, to share a feeling of oneness.
The poet wishes that in this selected moment, the fishermen would not kill the whales and the men gathering salt would give rest to their injured hands. The threat of destruction of the world would come to a halt. In this chosen moment we would have time for self assessment. The number ‘twelve’ is dramatically significant to represent our clock time, a moment in real life.