​A Silence Necessary
published The Blue Nib Literary Magazine

​Night mumbled them
and whispered them
softening the ending of the day
the steady hum

of the settling
of the lulling
of the myth of being
conclusively protected
in the calm consistency of them
while you lingered,
Silence,
for that first encounter, a trespassing
when you peeled me back
and emptied me
smothering my narration
so my words no longer

fit my lips
and my room
a bleak
cell of revelation
became exposed territory for me
at such a young age
you came with a great dark
clamor and commotion
a bare disquietude
interrupting me
when I was left awake
with you

after they put the house to sleep
and then themselves
before sleep had claimed me
you unsealed me

blathering unintelligibly
until the morning grayed the din
hushing me and defining our speaking terms.

Now you come
lacking stealth and with permission
a silence necessary
unmasking me and prying

the myth
of conclusivity
from my hands
finger by finger.