Let Silence Sing

Sometimes it's not thinking
that lets me survive. That
keeps me from raging, keeps
my traitorous heart beating,
keeps letting me rise and
go to work each day, that
keeps me from screaming
my soul into darkness.

Don't try to understand. Don't
look back. Behind every hope
there is blackness. Every
love hides emptiness. Keep
your face turned. Sometimes
it's all too much so don't think.
You can't turn to the future
because you couldn't bear

what you would see. You just
keep your feet moving, one step
after another, one second at a
time, one breath at a time, not
daring to ask what you will do
if this pressure doesn't let up,
if you can never again draw
a breath without struggling.

You don't dare pray. You don't
dare vent the anger, the rage
that makes you want to tear
the heart out of Heaven, shatter
the world into pieces and pound
the remnants into dust. You
swallow it all, and it's bitter,
but it's yours. Tomorrow you'll

be better. You just need sleep.
Or a laugh. Or a drink. Or
anything at all. And if not
tomorrow, then the day after.
Or the day after that. Or
even further. Don't think about it.
Don't think anything at all.
Just sleep. Just close your eyes

and let it all fall away. Let
it all fall. You are more than your
sorrows, more than your failures.
This world still has joy in it.
It still has joy for you as
impossible as that is to believe.
But for now, just curl up.
Close your eyes and don't dream.

Let silence sing you a lullaby.
Let silence sing.

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