Not a single one of us were silent.
Silence was something we did not believe in.
To speak out;
To shout;
To yell;
To cry aloud;
That was our habit.
Silence was an unaccustomed practice.
When we heard silence;
We would stare;
Confused;
Befuddled;
Wondering why anyone would ever be
silent.
Soon I began to understand;
The value of silence.
He and I exchanged few words, few glances;
All we needed was silence.
Silence that protected us
in feelings that we thought were unrequited.
Silence guarded me from my mother's sobs
my father's lectures
Peter's anger
Edmund's looks
and Lucy's tears.
I thought that silence was
necessary.
When I came home that day;
There was silence.
When they came to tell me that everyone I had known and loved were;
Dead.
There was only silence.
At the funeral I heard only
Silence.
From that day I spoke only
Silence.
Silenced by grief;
Silenced by fear;
Silenced by years of memories I had chosen to ignore;
Silenced.
Silence.