Silence wasn’t empty.  
It was alive.  
Thick with what no one could say,  
what I never dared to ask.

It filled the room  
like smoke after prayer,  
curling around my ribs  
until I forgot how to breathe without holding back.

I thought it was safety—  
this quiet.  
But it was a verdict  
disguised as peace.

And when I finally listened,  
I heard everything I tried to bury:  
the grief,  
the want,  
the name I refused to speak.

Silence didn’t spare me.  
It kept score.