Keeping Silent

This one took a long time to finish. It started out very short, but as I thought about what keeping silent means and what it does, the poem kept growing.

There is a time to be silent and a time to speak up. What happens when it is time to speak and you don’t? I’ve seen what silence and a lack of communication can do to people and to relationships and to myself.

This is something I struggle with, being an introvert and all. I’m not big on chatting in general or being vulnerable and open. But I’m trying to change that, to be the best version of me I can be, even as an introvert, because I’ve seen the harm of silence. It can be more destructive than you might think.

Keeping Silent

Silence is golden
A venerable mystique.
But sometimes it’s not,
Sometimes it’s weak

Can people read minds,
Do they know how you feel,
Can they see through your eyes,
Or hear through your ears?
You have to tell them,
You have to speak.


…1...
What good is a compliment if it is left unsaid
What good is sympathy locked in your head
How can advice be given if a voice remains quiet
What good is kind affection if you don’t apply it
Broken people need words of healing
Silence gives the appearance of a soul unfeeling.

Silence is not limited to lack of words
But a lack of action, affection, and attention.
Kindness hidden becomes pretension.
Dressed in silence compassion is factitious redemption.
Cowards who have the power to stay swords
But ignore their ability of prevention
Might as well speak words of condescension.

Consolation kept back in fright,
Or perfect words discovered in hindsight
Both are like clouds that hide the sun.
Awkward words and actions done
With sweet concern
Are better than none.


….2…
The disoriented desire truth revealing
Not lyrical riddles concealing,
Not contorted mendacity gushing forth,
Nor misplaced South disguised as North.
Despite how lovely lies sound spoken,
They have no hope for the broken.

Roses that bloom on thorns need revealing,
As do stars in darkness, their light appealing.
To stay mute is a crime of cowardice encouraging,
From valor in hardship, Silence is stealing.

If lovely words stay hidden,
And truth is kept unbidden
Precious people remain in discouraging dark.
Oh, to be the encouraging lark,
Since every season there is a song to sing.
How else do people learn of beautiful things?


….3.…
What good are promises unspoken?
Obscured intentions
Leave confused souls heartbroken
And relationships
In unnerving tension.

Movement averted
Life put on pause
Lack of progression
Stuck treading water.
The cause of cessation
Silence.

Generated fear
Stolen elation
Relationships kept in quiet privation
Sabotaged dreams
Mixed with mired hope
Ensnared freedom
A future hindered
The reason for agitation
Silence.

Where can you go when the destination
Is a hazy, mirage remaining aloof?
Ever changing vacillations 
Unsure of obligations
Silent expectations followed by harsh disapproval
Leave anxious hearts crushed
And confused by unwarranted reproof.
Forced to be rueful with no chance of refusal,
How can you fight silence and uncertainty?

….4…
The world is a confusing place
Words of truth need to be embraced,
Not just spoken in haste
But with wisdom thoroughly laced.

Unhappy words are difficult to hear
But to break the ties of your puppeteer
Sometimes release comes through tears.
In the home of your heart they try to amass,
But don’t you dare let lies trespass.
Find courage to face Truth’s cold embrace
Then rebuild on a steady place.
Don’t dance on lies of slivered glass;
Stand firm on truth that lasts.
Tell tales with veracity
Hold fast with tenacity

If you have a question, ask it
Don’t assume what truth could be.
Ignore the convenient counterfeits
Or you’ll stay blind and never see.

Pursue truth with persistence.
Speak up with exigency.
Communication
--oh beautiful brilliance--
kills Misunderstanding
While Silence encourages distance.


…5….
Misinterpretation,
A wrong thought, an assumption
An incorrect impression,
Delusion, illusion,
Misapprehension,
A faulty conclusion.
Left to propagate
These lies
Result in hassles
And vexation.

Shall I simply shatter
This deceptive mirage?

You couldn’t tell
I don’t blame you
It’s not always obvious.
I chose to stay inside my shell
Play the part and wear the mask untrue.
In fear I was fake and frivolous;
The agony I hid so well
Was not because I wanted to.
My discomfort or your gaze, only one could be averted.
In obligated kindness, I kept you oblivious
In silence I hid my pain.
In case you didn’t notice
I didn’t want to whine
I didn’t want to lie
So, I tried to convince my self
That I was really okay.
Then I wouldn’t have to be angry
Since it’s not fair to you
Because you can’t read my mind
And I was afraid to tell you

I do not wish to get upset
Or to say no
Or to complain
But how will you ever know
That something is wrong if I remain
Silent

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