HOWS AND HAVES

Have you ever noticed
the toxins living inside you?
Have you ever noticed
what others overlook?
Have you ever noticed
your own mind turning against you?
Have you ever noticed
a stone beating in place of your heart?

How many times
have you been stopped by timidity and shyness?
How many times
have you adored yourself—genuinely?
How many times
have you rehearsed your words in silence?
How many times
have you loved nature more than flesh and bone?

Have crowds ever made you ache?
Has loud music ever stirred anger instead of joy?
Have you ever written a diary,
just to speak where no one listens?
Have you ever felt the warmth of hearts
you knew you’d never touch?
Have you ever kept a secret
too sacred to name?

And still, you wake,
hoping one day the silence will speak back.
 A.V