This static rain
is singing me to sleep
as the darkness engulfs your voice.

This ecstatic pain
is an unsettling creep
of silence becoming the noise.

sometimes i cover my ears
even when there’s no sound.
it blocks out the noise,
it blocks out the crowd.
it blocks out the voices
that are getting too loud.
it blocks out the crying
but my fingers are cold;
i’m drowning inside,
it’s too much, i’m strangled.

Angry knots in the joints of my hands
My fists clenching and unclenching
I am not comfortable in this skin
Everything is so loud, so harsh to me,
The creak of the table, the chewing of gum
The tap tap tap of drumming fingers
I can feel lightning in my veins
Crackling and snapping, it is violent
I want to block everything out
I want it to blur at the edges of myself
And disappear somewhere quiet
Somewhere my skin isn't a cage
And my mind isn't an enemy
I need the lull of the sea on a hot day
And the embrace of the waves
As I sink.

It's just noise.
The sound of a car driving by.
The sound of chirping birds in the air.
The sound of the wind through the trees.
The sound of the river flowing in the backyard.

It's just noise if you hear it,
The things that are around you,
Unless you listen.

Listen to the car.
What does it sound like?
Where is it going?

Listen to the birds.
Where are they?
What are they doing?

Listen to the wind.
What sounds does it carry?
Is a storm coming?

Listen to the river.
How fast does it flow?
How low is it running?

Everything is just noise,
Unless you listen.

Unable to hear, I lay lifeless in my bed,
Poetry had distinguished like a flame in my head.
I tried to sing myself a lullaby to keep me company,
Yet the verses and notes dropped my hand and tried to flee.

I couldn't hear their music anymore,
I was trapped in an unlocked door.
The handle was free, awaiting my plea,
A victim whose escape was but a tortured sea.

Swimming in water, I couldn't see the bottom.
The depths were hard to picture, their ground lonesome.
I couldn't even imagine the silly creatures or rainbow snakes,
Unable to see anything, I lived in a soundless lake.

Unable to hear, I lay lifeless in my bed,
Imagination nothing but a loose thread.
I found myself crying in my pillow
Hitting a writer's block, bricks hiding my meadow.

Flowers were blooming in a beautiful garden,
Sea creatures dancing in their underwater garden.
I was in my room, tears dripping down my cheeks,
For an imagination I tried so hard to keep.

I am soundless in a busy world,
Echoless in rolling mountains,
I am hitched at the throat by the point of a sword,
I am no longer a poet.

I see my room,
Not a castle.
I see the sidewalks,
Not yellow brick roads.

I see the world,
Not the dream.

Soundless.
It came for me.