I was in the library yesterday, and I saw a little boy who has just been beaten up, crying in the corner. It inspired me to write this:
I stood in a crowd, today; each person screaming, trying, in vain, to be heard.
Each mouth opening, screaming to each other simultaneously.
Each scream equally unheard.
Each scream a desperate cry; “I want to be heard.”
Each scream, a desperate plea; “I want to be individual.”
And none of the screams were heard, none were noticed in the noise so great that it became almost…almost a silence.
I heard, today, the silence of those wanting to be heard.
I stood, alone, in a room today, the air still and quiet; almost complacent.
I stood in a library.
And I heard a little voice choke itself off.
I heard a little heart breaking as quietly as it could.
I heard a little child trying to silence their tears.
I heard a little child, quietly crying; “Don’t let them hear me…”
I heard a little child, quietly pleading; “I just want to be normal…”
And, today, I heard that sound.
The sound of those trying not to be heard.