I'm mute, unable to open my lips and let the flood roar.
It doesn't stop the waves crashing against my teeth,
Doesn't eliminate the tide pulling my wishes to the tip
Of what used to be a silver tongue now coated in blood.
.
The waters of my soul are impossibly cold,
Frozen in a way that should have rendered them still.
How then can they tear through me with such force?
How can they slosh inside my heart and freeze my blood?
.
I stand still in the midst of a torrent of violent, knife-sharp words
But my mouth refuses to open and let these words spill.
I am mute down to my bones, mute to the core of my being.
These crashing waves inside my chest exist to terrify.
.
They frighten the sanity out of me and I am back
Huddled inside a kindergarten with cold stone walls
Wondering why I cannot answer the question asked of me.
The waves were too cold; my mouth had frozen shut.
.
Sometimes though the waves turn hot, molten, angry.
They burned the back of my lips until they bleed
And press white-hot hands against the inside of my ribs
With the insistent urging to speak, speak, speak!
.
I will take the frostbite and the burns over the pain of speaking.
I'll let the words chew holes through my soul
Before I can gather enough courage up in my little basket
To throw up a flag and speak.
.
About the Creator
Silver Daux
Shadowed souls, cursed magic, poetry that tangles itself in your soul and yanks out the ugly darkness from within. Maybe there's something broken in me, but it's in you too.
Ah, also:
Tiktok/Insta: harbingerofsnake
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Standing While Falling
Quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche "He who wrestles long with monsters should beware lest he himself become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Man is not destroyed by suffering, but by the meaning he makes of it."
By LUCCIAN LAYTH7 days ago in Critique
Comments (10)
Once again you've outdone yourself! An outstanding piece full of relatable discomfort but wrought so beautifully. I felt like you crawled inside my head with "Wondering why I cannot answer the question asked of me.The waves were too cold; my mouth had frozen shut."
This was so powerful! Amazing work!
SD I love the relatability of this poem and the way it can translate into so many other feelings/ meaning. It made self reflective of my own anxieties or even my fear of rejection/ failure… so so thought provoking. Well done!
Silver, you have such a way with words. Even with a free verse this was melodic; the words rolled like a stream down a mountain. Another wonderful poem pulling deep truths to the surface in a beautiful, melancholy way.
Powerful words. Some of them make me think of how difficult it sometimes is to express yourself in a foreign language. Even if you know it well, it's still not your native tongue...
Your poem is truly epic.👏👏
this is a beautiful poem...loved it
Oh wow, Silver! This is powerful and as ever, all that eloquent wording makes it just flow nicely off the tip of my tongue. Which I guess is ironic given its subject matter. I am sorry you deal with this kind of things. It's interesting, I think - because as writers...it is a lot easier to explain and express ourselves isn't it than using our mouths to do it? Incredible piece of poetry!
Wow, this is painful to read so definitely more painful to a person struggling like this! Powerful‼️
Nice poem ! nailed it.