When the world around me speaks,
I try to listen, I try to understand.
I don’t speak much, though,
I don’t have much to say,
Whether you ask me how was my day,
How am I feeling,
Or why I do this or that in this or that way.
I do have thoughts and opinions of my own, you know,
Don’t we all?
But I’d rather write them down,
I’d rather think them through on paper.
Whenever I try to speak them aloud,
Words get lost on the way
From my brain to my tongue
Or else they come out
Strangely and unfamiliarly,
Curiosities of sound.
When I do speak, I am not sure
I understand myself.
I am not sure what I say
Or why I say it.
It’s as if someone else speaks in my place.
Silence can be a fault,
But spoken words, what are they?
The music life makes?
Noise of discord, noise of strife?
Ideas imperfectly expressed?
The cause of much misunderstanding?
Is not a hug more eloquent than any discourse?
Is not a smile, not a frown
More meaningful than any word?
Is not the language our body conveys
Clearer than the language of our tongues?
For my part I don’t say much,
I don’t have much to say.
I can only hope you understand
That silence itself is a way
To say what you have to say.
***
boy with a hat 
What do you think? Ha!
I’m really not that sure, you know. You seem a bubbly person, in the most positive sense of the word, but then perhaps you are exceedingly quiet in day to day life!
Nope. I talk to myself when no one is around. Ha!
I do that, too, you know. Out loud even. And sometimes I even answer my own questions! Ha!
Ha! I do that too. According to my husband, I am the queen of “rhetorical questions” for which there are no answers.
Wow. Really got me thinking! The power of words as you wrote it, but the meaning of what you wrote: how much power silence has.
My compliments
I tip my hat to you, Marc. 🙂
I speak to myself more than with others. Whatever I want to say I will say it aloud putting my thoughts on the paper.
I know this as well… When I’m in a good mood, I’m literally talking like a waterfall. On other days, I don’t say anything. I am more able to write about difficult or very personal topics than to tell them someone face to face. Maybe this is another reason why writing can be sometimes so much easier: you don’t see the reaction instantly, there is more distance… Some people need this.
Indeed, I relate to that, except that when I am in a great mood, when I am truly happy, I feel the overpowering urge to stay quiet. 🙂
like when you are ruining lives?
It feels like you have spoken all that my heart felt … The way I find it easy to say it through a pen and paper then as a sound that may vanish with the time.
Its like you understood it all.
We’re in the same boat, then. 🙂
This is a lovely piece, I really enjoyed it. Thank you 🙂
I am much better at speaking through words on paper than aloud, and I am definitely an observer, but I do talk a lot as well. I’m more comfortable verbally discussing things that I have already explored in writing though. And as you may see from my blog, I write really openly… I think people I know in real life probably learn more about me from my writing than what I say. I’m a thinker so I take a while to assess before I start speaking too.
Thanks again for the read 🙂
It’s the same here – people learn so much more about me from my blog than from what I say, which isn’t much. I don’t know if you listen to Leonard Cohen, but I think the same is true for him… People know him, or at least feel that they do, through his songs. 🙂
Totally, and I think a lot of musicians are like that. 🙂
Yes.Great! Do you choose silence all of time or a part of time. FOR me I couldn’t speak more than a little words a day.Do I mean that I find my double?
Hours of silence visit my house every day, and they are only deepened by the silence of the music playing in the background. 🙂
Reblogged this on cutiepieblogblog.
So far I’m liking all of your pieces. I think I talk more eloquently under the influence of alcohol. Other than that, words trips over nothing on my tongue.
(also, Hi!)
Reblogged this on insurance debunked.
To write my thoughts, is much easier than displaying them in the air. The things I say just evaporate before making it to the ear. I think it is better to talk to myself alone than to talk to myself in a group.
All I know is that I don’t comment that much, but when I leave a comment it means that the poem is exquisite 🙂
That sounds good. 🙂
Its not really a silence unlesss it doesnt speak. I so relate to the first four lines 🙂
My answer to your question is unfortunately yes. But I console myself that no-one listens.
they listen alright. nosey and evil.
hello, I have a new blog which is a creative outlet of my soul, if you have a look I will love you and the world will love you too and everything will love you and please have a look if you want. happy sunday.
I love this! I’m not usually a big fan of poetry but I can easily relate to this one 🙂
Good to hear that. I’m not sure it’s poetry, though. Nevermind the tags! 🙂