Silence

In the wake of a soul silencing season, I found a woman. She wasn't timid or sad or unsure. She simply knew. She was centered in a place I vaguely remembered, but don't think I'd ever really been to. I asked if she was lost. And without a reply, I realized she'd never been found, so being lost was incongruent. She was just waiting... waiting for the cycle to be broken... for the discovery of the truth that silenced her screams and slowed the rage in her veins. Her breath birthed a rhythm that altered my beating heart. If I had let them, words would have interrupted the symphony of emotions being played out in the silence. So I erased them and took the paper they were written on and lit it on fire. And I watched it burn .... And I waited with her until the kindling turned to ash ... until the transferred warmth could actually be seen. I wondered what might happen next or what the discovery of her meant. As the glow faded, I realized that I was looking in the mirror and she just smiled back ....