Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Sound and Silence

Because because I do not scream
You do not know how bad I hurt

Because because I do not kiss
on public squares
You may not know how much I love

Because because I do not swear
again and again and again
You wouldn't know how deep I care

You keep saying
How somehow our world must live by signs
But see how much we give away
Doing time in pursuit of signs
deprived of all meaning
and of all purpose
We break our words in two. Then we
Split each half into sounds and silences

by Kofi Anyidoho
(the formatting didn't come out just right, sorry)

2 comments:

Susan said...

I like it. A very interesting poem. I'll have to think on that one. Surface read: I like the imagery of the words breaking in half.

Laura Rollins said...

I really like it - I think it makes a wonderful (and often overlooked) point: we frequently jugde our relationships on the outward show of affection/emotions/anger/trust. But, we forget that even when no outward show is made, emotions are still felt.