The more I come back to this and read it, the more I appreciate it.

Like diamonds in the rough, poetry glimmers beneath the surface, and only reveals itself in the master jewellers cut.

Thank you, Celia, for this gem.

Hi Cecila, thank you for that poem on silence. It describes a common but sad situation (I think) in our society where our girls and women suffer quietly with life issues. Sometimes it has fatal consequences.

I think our women should be somehow empowered to talk openly. An attitude change from the boys and the men I think can help this.

You poem reminded me of a moving (and not unfamiliar) story I got told once and which I captured in a poem below. I share it as my contribution to the discussion on silence. I hope it adds value to your poem.

The situation you described and the motivation with which you wrote of course may be different:

Her Wish

He drags her close
In his drunken stupor
To explain
That by her side he would remain

She clings to him
In her tired languor
To weep
Over that promise she knows he won’t keep

He pulls her closer
In his reckless torpor
To finish
His macho appetite to replenish

She looks away
In plea for succour
To vanish,
From this violent world, perish

She turns aside in hope
To her sleeping junior
To cherish,
A son she prays will remain unblemished

We close our eyes
And ignore the sad clamour
To admonish,
Our goddamn male ego and grant the woman her liberation wish!

Poem by Steven Ilave
Port Moresby 2013