love me softly

love me loud

i will not settle
for anything less
than that

Years ago I thought
That the fondness of the heart
Is found in absence.
Your smile, your warmth, I missed
I really did.

With heads ducked low and hoods pulled high
The Quiet walk through life
With their eyes shut
And their ears wide enough
To hear the softest of hearts
That beat in the chests of the Loud.

The Quiet is made of eerie spirits
Of happy and sad and empty human shells.
They watch as others lively live their days away
And only dream of one day whispering
To the life of the party
When the party comes alive.

They’ll say:
‘Why are you pretending?’

The Life of the Party,
So high on euphoric relationships
Will drink away the question
Like they hid away their sorrow.
And only at dawn when the alcohol fades
Will they panic at the question’s exposure.

The Quiet is made of strong shattered souls
That watch the Loud lie to themselves.
As the partygoers pretend to be painless,
The Quiet bathe in their hollow pasts
Until the cold waters become soothing enough
For the Quiet to gain the courage to speak.

They’ll say:
‘There is a Quiet within us all.’

With their soft voices and youthful wisdom
The Quiet live invisibly amongst the Loud.
And as they watch the world ignore its own misery
They’ll listen to the soft hearts of the sufferers
To convince the Loud that one day they’ll be strong enough
To suffer in silence.