They Asked Why I Don’t Talk Anymore

They asked
Why I don’t talk anymore
Why my mouth
Feels like a locked room

I smiled
Like silence
Was a choice
Not a scream with no voice

Words
Used to live here
Now they hide
In places I don’t visit

Some words bleed
When spoken
Some carry knives
In their syllables

Every “I’m fine”
Is a quiet funeral
Buried
Without anyone watching

I tried
Tried to explain
But pain
Doesn’t translate easily

They want answers
But not the kind
That crawl
Out from broken memories

They want
“Better now”
Not
“It still hurts every morning”

My silence
Isn’t empty
It’s overflowing
With what I never said

The truth?
Talking
Costs too much
When no one really listens

So I stitched
My mouth shut
With invisible thread
Made of all the times I was ignored

And now
I sit with myself
A little quieter
A little stronger

Because silence
Isn’t weakness
It’s what happens
When strength runs out