Silence

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide; drug use; domestic violence.

Hum of traffic
returning workers
from endless hours of drudgery.
Roar of mowers
remaking lawns
in tame parodies of the wilderness.
Ping of microwaves
heating artificial food
for artificial youth
posting artificial photos
with hands and eyes
and anonymous personas
glued to phones
and social isolation.
Moans and shouts
and flesh on flesh,
sounds of pleasure and pain,
of oppression and repression,
freedom and willing slavery.
Gated communities
promising peace and safety,
sanctuary from the jungle without.
‘Silence has a mighty noise’
and noise hides the pain of silence,
the peace of the ‘friend who never betrays’.
Click of the second,
rattle of the bottle,
sting of the needle,
offer the silence of the grave.