Young Writers Society

so my Silence won’t be mistaken for Peace

I: letters to mother
i. (i): untitled
ii.(ii): untitled
iii.
iv.
v.

II:
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.

III:
xi.
xii.
xiii.
xiv.
xv.

.

ii.

mother, the hyenas
have come.
the wind sinks it’s teeth into
our roof; rot
and decay,
mother:
the hyenas have come
and the wind is tearing our trees,
our groves: mother, mother
do you see the moon
weeping? the stars have
come broken tonight, the wind
is shaking our walls.
mother, you are shouting
over the wind and behind us
the hyenas are cackling. do you see
how the moon weeps? the walls are
coming down, mother: our trees
and our soil, up in the air.
mother, mother:
speak now,
tell me it will be
alright.
will it be
alright?

you are shouting something over the wind. i can see your words, mother: they flicker and float away: up in the air with everything we own and are. mother, behind us the hyenas cackle. the walls come down. i watch the sky bleed, i watch the moon weep. i watch the stars break and suddenly, we are in the open field: the earth solid and firm and bare beneath us. do people in glass houses
know they live delicate lives?

iii.

i.
you tell me things
you do not mean to say:
the storm, the flight,
the flood and the
light.

ii. storm
mother,
in the distance i can always hear
the thunder, i know
that the earth i stand on
is not real. that it is only
you pretending. it is only
me pretending
i believe you.

iii. flood
mother. in the distance
i can always hear the river. i tell you
i am drowning and you pretend
that it is ok. that this is not
the river and the earth,
your silent
promises. pale light, mother,
where the river dances
and the earth quivers.
pale

iv. light
and i say it is not real,
i say i can pretend
that everything is simple: that it
is what you tell me it is. pale
light, and i never talk to you about the earth and the river and the dust, mother, mother: i never tell you about the water and the sky and the light:
pale light:
it breaks our sky
like peasants
break bread: slowly,
then all at once.

I enjoyed it very much, especially part III
word hurdle