The Poetics of Silence | Wash-Anigboro Harry

(cover photograph direction: Victor Akhere)

Beneath the tongue of silence.

The heart’s attic collects dust of unsaid things,

 

And forgotten stars—light bleeding

Into the margins of darkness. Poetry blooms

 

In the marrow of absence, where silence is not

A void, but an archive of unspoken grief.

 

In the hollows of a dying tree,

The wind sharpens itself into a blade—its whistle,

 

A hymn to the nameless. Do you hear it?

The earth, breaking its back to conjugate

 

The weight of death: roots whispering elegies

To the ghosts of rivers that once held

 

The pulse of mountains.

What is poetry if not geometry of shadows,

 

Algebra of longing etched in veins? Metaphors

Claw through flesh, bruises waiting to be deciphered.

 

To unravel the language of the unspeakable—

Is to trace scars where stars collapse inward.

 

Does poetry belong to the living, or the dead?

Fingerprints rest on the necks of mourning doves,

 

& the eyes of children inheriting wars like heirlooms.

Their laughter breaks like glass, refracting the sun.

 

The poet’s hand, a thief, stealing vowels

Of the divine. Dragging the ineffable into ruin,

 

Into light. Each line, a wound too deep to heal,

Yet too holy to remain closed. Somewhere,

 

In the aching jaws of an abandoned chapel,

Pews learn to pray without their priests.

 

Dust settles for centuries, verses

Unclaimed by breath.

 

Decay speaks fluently. Do you hear it now?

Poetry carves silence into bones—tattoos

 

The abyss on those who’ve stared too long.

It is the bloodletting of stars. The scream

 

Of galaxies collapsing into themselves.

The first & last thing the universe will ever say.

 

If you must speak it—speak softly. Echoes linger

Longer than sound.


Wash-Anigboro Harry
is a lawyer and a passionate writer with a flair for poetry and storytelling. His works often delve into themes of resilience, humanity, and the beauty of expression. His poem, “Echoes of a Wounded City,” was recently featured in the poetry category of Nigerian News Direct. Harry is dedicated to refining his craft and uncovering new ways to bring his creative vision to life.

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