When Silence Paid Us A Visit
A Tuesday morning it happened,
No bang. No boom. No crash.
Silence stole the laughter, she slipped through the door,
A careful thief that knew the house, padded across the floor.
A normal day she struck,
No shouts. No screams. No cries.
Silence smothered the bark of the dog, she hushed the neighbour’s cat,
An inky hold on the town crept quietly through the cracks.
A simple society she destroyed,
No mumbles. No mutters. No sighs.
The clock ticked without time, people spoke without words,
Without warning her disease grew and spread, leaving nothing to resound.
A lowly world she picked apart,
No speech. No votes. No say.
Leaders gestured wildly, stripped of an echo, a voice, a breath;
Her cold decree subdued the noise and carried it away.
So treasure your sound, readers,
The wind, the sea, the rain,
For silence moves without moral or thought,
And who knows when she’ll visit again.
-by Kai Li Leong (Age 13)
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Your poem creates a very powerful atmosphere. I love how you turned silence into a character moving through the world. Lines like “The clock ticked without time” are very poetic and thoughtful. Keep writing, you clearly have a natural gift for storytelling and imagery.