I Learned to Speak, a poem

 

This year,
I learned to speak
in a loud voice
not loud –
to make noise,
but loud enough
to be heard –
like the gentle fall
of rain
on rooftops,
like an autumn leaf
dancing in the wind.
Sometimes –
it is not the volume
that matters,
but instead, perhaps
it is the intent,
the trill with which
you open your heart
to song.
I have not
always known this,
the silent acceptance
of my own thoughts
of words lightly
dancing upon the page
or on the edge of my tongue,
waiting for their exhalation
to breathe life into line
and line
into heartfelt remembrance.
There was a time,
when I shook in my own shadow
I did not believe
I had anything
of value to say
and I longed
I longed
to have a reason
to speak,
but my tongue
could not find the vocabulary.
There was a time,
when I had too much to say,
but no one would listen
I was told
I was much too young
I did not understand
and it was not my place
to have a point of view
and I longed
I longed
to speak,
but I was told to be
silent.
Somewhere
within the rush and roar
of seasons,
I found the words
that kept my heart
from bleeding out
and I clung to them,
in confidence
that I would no longer
be swept out to sea.
This year,
I learned to speak
in a loud voice,
and I have finally begun
to value the sound
that reverberates
in the depths of my heart.

 

© Sumyanna 2017

 

Written for the prompt “what I’ve accomplished”

Gorgeous image courtesy of Pixabay.com