I always knew
always better
until the day I didn’t
until the muscles
of voice grew limp
until silence
sidled up to me
like a stranger
at a bus stop
and before we knew it
we were going
home together
listen now, said silence
and that was what I did
I waited
for months
for years
for the invitation
the telling look
for: yer man
for: c’mere, oh
I know exactly what you mean
for: stop, stop
for the drunken dump
of laughter
and when I found them
in the next beginning
when I found the new words
they were only gaps
they were empty spaces
where words might be
I filled them
I hung words across them
so no one would notice
Lessons of Silence © 2026 Fergus Deffely
