Listen

It feels like the balance is shifting

this path has taken a turn.

Something has shifted, something is changing

and I am reeling again.

It feels like it’s time to listen

to silently sit back and watch.

To take it all in and see how it tastes

let its texture roll around on my tongue.

I was silent for years and years

collecting too many things unsaid.

Building walls and structures of stone

hiding myself within them.

When it all crashed down and crumbled

and everything was exposed.

Like a river it all flowed from me

until everything was submerged.

Floating in too many words

drowning in too many thoughts.

I lost my footing and began to sink

and was forced to learn to swim.

Treading water at an exhausting pace

swimming to save my life.

Wishing for the sounds of silence again

and the comfort of dry land.

So here I am in a place

where I can set the stage.

Where I can choose the roles

and I can decide who to play.

The thing is I don’t want to play anymore

I don’t want to take part in this.

I don’t want to stand up on the stage again

and let myself be exposed.

So I think for now I’ll listen

 to all that is being said

To the sounds that are humming all around me

instead of the ones in my head.

I’ll listen to the screaming, to the weeping

to the wise.

I’ll listen to the whispers, to the laughing

to the cries.

I’ll collect all the things I find here

and put them in a box.

I’ll carry the with me along this road

as I listen for what is never said.

 

*For dversepoets.com*

Poetics– ChaNGe & TuЯns