Listen for the silence
That's when you know you have been heard
Listen for the silence
Then you dare not speak a word
Listen for the silence
As they think of a reply
Listen for the silence
But, don't confuse it with a sigh
Listen for the silence
You got your point across
Listen for the silence
You know you have them at a loss
Listen for the silence
It's when they're backed up to the wall
Listen for the silence
You know they are about to fall
Listen for the silence
You know the arguement is won
Listen for the silence
Say no more, the fight is done

There is no such thing as
"Strong women."
There are only women who hide
And women who hide better.
Women who shelter their fears
In the attics of their minds,
And women who carry them
In their back pockets;
Women who hum little songs to themselves
While wolves wait at their feet,
And women who dance with the beasts.
Women who cry quietly
In bed next to your
Snoring mass,
And women who turn their heartbreak
Into art and music and poems
That rip at the hearts
Of those who hurt her.

The woman you knew---
The woman you loved
Once upon a time---
Hides better.
Her screaming nightmares
About the man that ruined her---
His hands revisiting her innocence;
Night after night,
Waking to underwear
Stained from the dirt on his hands---
Are transformed into drive.
Drive to create, to love,
To touch, to live.
This woman you knew
Hides better.

But strength ebbs,
Like the tide,
The sadness sweeps into the mind
With the rising moon.
But the strong woman,
She doesn't break;
Not until she is tucked away
Into her empty hope chest
Next to the dusty photos
Of lost friends and lovers
And the strings of pearls
Formed from silver tears
Of mothers and grandmothers.
Only then is she weak.
Only then does she allow
The darkness to enclose her,
Like a blanket of familiar discomfort.

What one must realize is that
Passion is not a constant.
Every woman you have ever admired,
Every woman you looked up to,
Every woman you worked beside,
Every woman you passed by,
Falls apart in private.
The body must have a rest from strength,
Let vulnerability prevail.

Seconds seem like ages,
But hours are so short.

Time passes slowly
But it all ends so fast

Hearts beat,
Leaves fall.

Wind blows
Shivers run.

Heart stops
Tears fall

Memories left
A ghost to recall.

As I walk through the valley I'm the shadow of death,
I keep myself together with every waking breath,
I make it unknown to everyone who I truely am,
no one will every know the emotions I cram.
Some say i don't understand,
That I dont get it,
That I dont understand you,
Well I do, I see you, I know you, I get you,
I've been where you are,
I've walked through the valley and back up again,
I've slept alone with my thoughts in a den,
I thought it would never end.
Day after day,
Year after year,
never shedding one tear,
I stayed strong through the worst,
picked myself up when i was about to burst,
I've let love go when my lust thurst,
I am the shadow in the valley of death,
I look like im the angel of life,
no one needs to see the black cloke i wear,
they just see my smile and short cut hair.
Well groomed, teeth clean, smelling good,
no one relizes there is something below,
a second skin, lying within,
waiting to be let out to show my real self,
but until then the angel of life is here to stay,
to tell you your beautiful and great,
even the shadow inside me knows its not to late,
to show you what I see in you,
to rewire your battered heart,
to give you a new start,
to tell you that your not stupid,
that your funny and cute and deserve cupid,
I'm hear to listen and help,
even though you think I can't
I'm going to try my best,
not as the shadow of death,
but the angel of life,
to give you happiness in every breath.