Silence

a poem

Photo by Anthony on Unsplash

Listen to an audio recording of Silence:

Silence is not golden;
silence is hard like granite,
as cold as an iceberg,
heavy as an avalanche,
empty as a promise made
never to be kept, a vacuum
where nothing breathes
or moves or grows.

Silence stands by,
with blind eyes, deaf ears,
its tongue bitten, its lips sealed, 
its hands and feet hog-tied.
Silence wills ignorance,
cowers under the cover
of innocence and impotence.
Silence poisons and pollutes.

Silence belongs 
in holy places of worship 
where people pray and seek
guidance, succour and forgiveness
from the divine and merciful;
in graveyards and cemeteries
where those left behind grieve
and honour their beloved dead.
Silence is at home
on an island, on a mountain top, 
by a lake or stream, in a forest,
a cave where truth seekers journey 
to meditate and contemplate
life's mysteries and blessings.

But silence has no place
in public spaces and public discourse,
when before our eyes, every day,
children, women, unarmed men,
the elderly, the sick, the disabled, 
entire families are slaughtered, 
injured, starved, driven, displaced,
dehumanized and terrorized;
when mad men meet in secret
to manufacture world war.

In the face of genocide and war,
silence speaks louder than words.
Silence denies and lies
like a perjurer on the stand,
deceiving and evading truth.
Silence defends war criminals
with sound and fury, signifying
nothing but contempt for the law
and the value of human life.
Silence suborns witnesses,
takes hostages at will and holds them
without charge or counsel
in solitary confinement.
Silence professes impartiality 
while with cold impunity
it sentences and executes.

High time to break the silence!
Smash it, like glass, with a hammer
Shatter and scatter every tiny piece!
Stir up one hell of a thunderstorm! 
Open your mouths and roar!

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