Dear Silence,
We’ve come a long way, you and I.
“Silence is golden, so shut up and get rich” read a poster in the library I frequented as a child. I was always amused by this. Oft excited as a child, Silence was always something I had to achieve growing up as an extrovert. As I grew older my mother instilled in me the need to establish a rapport with Silence. This ever-so-elusive, unattainable girl. I’m still struggling with it.
Nonetheless, I got you. I won you. Boy, are you a handful.
From the power you give me on the battlefield when my adversaries probe for information or responses, and all I do is let you be, leaving them in a cloud of smoke with regards to my position,
Or when you musk away my incompetence at times in a certain domain, because you are golden,
When I am being the friend indeed to the friend in need,
When I sit through excruciating eulogies,
When I’m hitting on myself, grinding, literally to understand my inner being and drivers..
I cannot take you in moderate doses, and I think we should end our relationship somehow. Friends with benefits maybe? When you fill me up, you sure as hell fill me, but I need some time on my own, some time to be me, without you.. You’re nefarious. I’ve seen what you can do.
I’ve seen you fill men to the point of indifference when a woman is harassed,
I’ve seen you let injustices simmer, then boil over. Injustices that are too cruel to ignore,
I’ve seen you leave migrants out in the cold,
I’ve seen you and your gang, Procrastination and Abstinence, deplete potential and ruin societies,
I’ve seen your indifference in the face of the meek, merely asking for help,
Silence you stifle, suffocate, sigh.
You’ve introduced me, and many others to bad company. Apathy, Indifference, and others way darker.
Even though this is a definite goodbye, I’d like to see you again. I wish you well, but I wish the person who embraces your tender soul next the best. I wish them the best. May you fill spaces where you are welcome, but may the one who embraces your tender soul next stumble not, so s/he too may not endure the fall from grace, that is, falling from being your Lover, to your Victim.
Adieu.
