I’ve been silent.

I’ve been silent for too long.

And yet even as I stir the still air, the ripples float away from me. Why won’t they stay?

I’ve been silent because I no longer knew the words to the anthem whose rhythm my soul beat to.

The frames that held me up could no longer support my image; it could no longer contain me.

I’ve been silent because I was ashamed of my own voice. I was a afraid that every syllable to the word “O.K.” will carry the tune of my heart wailing “I’m drowning”.

I’ve been silent as I watch myself slowly fade into blissful nothingness. I was weightless. I carried no weight, no life, no value.

I’ve been silent because it’s easier than hitting the right notes to the whale-song, so beautiful undersea,

Yet deafening

Above ground.