When Words are Truly Free

"One Day I'll Fly Away"  Photography by Hayley Richards

Image Source

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 66
Come join us!

Some birds are poets and sing all summer. ~Henry David 

Once my words were caged

Strangled by silence

Like a shy child

They lingered close

In quiet spaces

Whispering in my ear

where no one else would hear

But with time they grew

And so did I

Old cages get rusty

but old birds still fly

now the silence is stifled by words

they reach far places

like migrating birds.

©Carrie Van Horn 2019

Silence Has a Blackness

Photo by Isabella Mariana from Pexels

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 49

Come join us!

There are times when silence has the loudest voice. ~Leroy Brownlow

I was raised in a house

that made more sounds

 than the voices that it held

 creeks in the night 

whistling windows

steps that whined louder

 than a child wanting more

old secrets walked the rooms

with colorful voices

that only faith and children

could truly see

silence has a blackness

darker than coal

but it always catches the light

brightly once truth has a chance to shine.

©Carrie Van Horn 2019

Ssshhhhhh

(Carrie's spot at the library circulation desk)

Linking with Imaginary Gardens 

for Bits of Inspiration ~ Mixed Media Art

brought to you and imagined by Susie Clevenger

Silence was never written down.  ~Italian Proverb

I spend most of my time at work

sitting at a circulation desk where

people check out books

and pay late fees

discussing their day 

and their favorite 

series or author

while children laugh

and young adults 

and old ones as well

talk on their cell phone

as if they are home

for some we are

a home away

from home

we have snacks

people eat

kids run around 

and play while

their parents

are on the computer

oblivious to

their surroundings

and.....

yes libraries

are supposed to be

quiet

but

they are not...

we serve a community

where there are more needs

than just studying for a test

or looking up information

some need air conditioning

others want the internet

having important information

to print out

and then there are the

ones that want a great book

either way

there is a need to be met

and customer service is the

backbone of my career 

I am here to serve

in noise and in quiet

and I love it either way!

Now here is my actual poem for the prompt:

If silence could speak it would whisper ssshhhh

I would elbow it softly and suggest

something a little more assertive 

like shuuuut uuuup

or how about a mean glare

but silence would not listen

because silence is way too polite for that

and it does have a mind of it's own

you see silence is an old friend of mine

and we go way back

we have been through so much together

in my times of great loneliness 

it taught me the art of pondering 

life's questions and writing poetry

at night it was always close by

to listen with no judgement

there have been those that 

have shunned my dear friend

considering it empty

with nothing to truly offer

but I disagree 

it is a priceless gift

that I have learned to love

throughout the years

you see

silence

 truly is

golden to me!

The Stab That Does Not Kill

Magpie #19
They say that a paper cut hurts worse than a stab, and Mr. Hoffman knew first hand that was right.
For he was watching his lawyer and Mrs. Hoffman's, slowly divide both their lives.
The sting of the silences had torn loves core, and emptied the words that were left.
Leaving a woman he once held, filled with morsels of regret.
Now its down to a mortgage, a dog, 3 kids, and 2 cars.
While he is left with regrets of his own, and a broken heart.
Afterwards he will lay with a remote control, and a dog on a roll out bed,
with regrets slicing torment inside of his head.
For these things were the culprit that gave the stabbing blow.
That have left him to live as half the man he had once known.

A great site for writers  Magpie Tales





"Do you know the most surprising thing about divorce? It doesn't actually kill you. Like a bullet to the heart or a head-on car wreck. It should. When someone you've promised to cherish till death do you part says "I never loved you," it should kill you instantly."  ~Frances, from Under The Tuscan Sun