From the age of

15 months
I have been talking
Stringing together my words, like a
Jeweler strings pearls
From the age of
3 years
I have been building
Paragraphs, like
A contractor builds cities.
As I grew I continued to
Be outspoken
Using my words
To paint my canvas
Each vowel
Each consonant
A new brush stroke
I don’t believe there was a silent
Moment
At age
Eleven
My  friend--
My friend
Died
It was as if

Someone 
Put a stopper in
My voice
The voice that had been
Stringing sentences
The voice that had been
Building paragraphs
The voice that probably should
Have shut up once in awhile

Was quieted

I tried to
Say
Say what
Was on my
Mind
I tried
I would try
Molding my words
Like a potter spins
Clay
Only to have them
Burst in the kiln
Shards ricocheted
Pierced my heart

I gave up
All of my
Words
Crushed by the
Silence
That our voices once
Filled

Words could not save me now

I slid into a darkness
Bleek dark opaque
I groped blindly
My voice evaded
me
Unable to call for help
Help that wouldn’t ever come
I whispered the pain
I whispered in vain
For who could hear me
For who had ever heard me

After a
Long  while,

I found a light
A Faint Glow

from my pen and book
I wrote down my
Emotions
recorded my
daemon
The darkness bled from
The light
But sat at the edge she waited
The shadows swaying with my
Voice
Mirroring my words
My voice it came from those
Shadows

At the age of
Twelve
I learned to string together
My words
Like the shadows laced with
Sunlight
Soon I built
Paragraphs
Like the light pushed back
The darkness
From then
On