only silence heard

upon my knees,

my courage seized

by force beyond my means;

i still believe,

though i can’t see

what all this darkness means.

& still i smell

the flowers that fell

from your broken branch.

the breaths i take,

the vows i make

in hope of hopeless chance

that i might know,

like long ago,

what only silence heard.

a child bound

to anxious sound,

electric insect buzz;

consuming thought

& never taught

to be, without because;

& written on

the quaking sand,

the lines that don’t preserve

the thing i knew,

when words were few,

& only silence heard.