No Talking

Be glad of the gentle peace
rather than the maelstrom of words –
Welcome the calm of nothing,
rather than the endless hammering
of poisoned adjectives
on personal pronouns.

For letters only need to hurt
and sentences condemn.
Paragraphs deceive
flattering and seducing before burning
and pointed poems have no end
other than their own dissatisfaction

Better, then, to draw a curtain of quiet
and hide in a blanket
of your own silence.

DEB April 2008 (revised 2012)