This was my second response to a writing challenge on the subject of silence
(Image courtesy of Mariusz Rutkowski from Wikimedia Commons)


Silences

There are certain kinds of silence.
Some come as the pregnant pauses,
that are in the space between sounds,
others are just by themselves found.

There is the silence before the first breath
as new-born lungs are seeking the first air
before calling aloud that they are here.

There is the silence after the first hurt,
the first slap or the first angry word,
when the child will retreat into silence
that will calcify into a hardened shell.

There is the silence between the vows,
When one or the other can still decline
as though by now they had that in mind.

Then there is the silence of complicity,
when a word could still have been said,
instead of which from greed or stupidity
they now find themselves in duplicity.

The silence of the words not spoken
between two who lived together as one
When the hurt and pride became a divide

There is the silence of loving familiarity,
when together nothing need be said,
and the thoughts are shared instead.

Finally, the pause before a last breath
taken when the self can’t see to see;
when life can no longer go on and on,
and all the silences are rolled into one.


D G Moody 2026





Poetry by D G Moody The PoetBay support member heart!
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Written on 2026-02-05 at 12:14

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