Poem: Silence

Silence

The specter haunting my door
Hovers o’er my shoulder as
Vultures to the wanderer or
Death to the ill

Silence
The absence of speaking
Lingers in my head as
Dust on an old path
Deep shadows at twilight

Shadows
A sentry waits for word which
Will not come this snowy eve
It never does...
It only ever brings
Deep silence

Damn silence
Sweet words fall to the soul as
Drops of honey on tongue’s tip
But silence causes yearning
And in starving the yearning soul
Causes

Hunger
Hunger for words
Hunger for knowledge
Hunger for wisdom
No hunger for games
Raw hunger

Not to be alone.
Would that I knew
When up became down
Down became up
Right and wrong changed
Places

Empty places
Do I brave another night
In the cold, waiting for
Word whose messenger may
Split the silence and
Break my

Solitude?
Or will I take again my
Sword and armor
Pen and paper
Cut my losses and
Move on?

Silence
So cruelly imposes 
Longing, though in doing so
Builds strength, and in
Strength may I find
Clarity

* * *

Silence poem by Zach Foster. Snowy night in Athens photo courtesy of "Badseed" via CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Image obtained from Wikimedia Commons.