Silence as a Curtain Call
i was her once before / the girl that sits against a wall and reads a used paperback in the sun / downtown and probably waiting on something / a man stood over me / asked what i was reading / if i was her again i would ask him / if he thought a book to my nose meant / i, the girl, was wanton for stranger’s conversation / how often i am reminded my silence is a public action / men are the directors of marring gentle memories / they remind me how i am an empty theater / a book is kind, but it is no friend / it has no voice to chase away / no mouth to snarl / sometimes, it is only a place to be drawn out