My mother was quiet My father was loud His words His hands The sound of the belt crackling in his palms Though through all this my mother was silent My mother moved through the house like wind Silence crashing into the quiet, small spaces between My father stomped, pounded his way like thunder Never breaking through the ever-growing tension he built brick by brick My mother knew more than she would tell Her silence melted into our very beings Shutting us out from any reality Shutting us out from any chance that we could be happy My father never broke, bent, snap Stern, overbearing My mother was quiet