It shouldn’t have needed to be said,

If you were going to hear.

Speaking is not hearing,

And silence is not absence,…

I am here.

A thousand upon a thousand words.

Lifetimes of echoing noise,

Drifted away, …unheard.

And I’ve always been waiting,..

Silently, in the noise,…

To be heard.

K. Aldaya, 8/14/21

Picture: By A Befendo on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/tKEY5x1Y-y4