Silence

There is a silence

At the centre of every heart

Where one’s true suffering is known

Straining for words

May make for the soul

A  prison

Of ropes that binds us tighter and tighter

In knots

Where the outflowing of what is really felt

Deeply in a place beyond words

Would say it all

Without us needing to speak

So when you ask me what is wrong

I get lost

Can’t you feel with me

In this deepest place

Where the language of the heart is heard

Can you move toward me

Instead of pushing away

Can I?

It is hard when

After trauma this body and this heart

Become places too terrifying to fully inhabit

Then there really is no silence

As muted sensation driven deep inside

Boils away

Making it hard to rest or be

This is the true hell no sufferer can really speak of

To those who will not understand

It can only be known

By those who suffer too

So if you try to tell the tale

To one who is a stranger to that place

Your suffering deepens

As helplessly you retreat

In silence

Licking your bleeding wounds

But when the cells of the body sing

And you can bear it

When you have allowed enough silence and space inside

To feel it

Then you may know

Instead the comfort of a silence

That no longer punishes

The comfort of a silence that encompasses and heals

And if you can

For just some short moments

Find that resting place with another soul

Who remains open and silent too

Listening deeply

And understanding

Then love will fill the wounded places

As balm spreads over wounds

Too long left aching