That intolerable silence
Like thick smog choking the room
Suffocating all with its horrid perfume
That empty pit and vacant space
Where vagabonds leave their unkempt trace
Silence, a stillness that rots nerves,
And torments those who are in it.
The world holds its breath
Only waiting for
That one sound, one word, one whisper, one sob
But the tape never plays
Remarkable thing,
How the silence stays.
It’s as though somehow
A gag is stuffed down the throat,
All dingy and terribly soiled,
Cotton dipped in salt and motor oils
Is the taste of unspoken word and unshed tear.
So solemnly brimming over a wrenching quietness
Is a sound you th