Silent Screams

This poem reflects the feelings of an older person talking to a young person.

Silent Screams

Do you see me?

Do you hear me?

I stand before you, pleading,

silently screaming

“See me!”

“Hear me!”

See beyond my outer shell,

brittle now with age,

lined and weathered from exposure

to the rough winds of life.

Hear beyond the words I speak,

words that must sound strange to your young ears

but which spring naturally from my past, like

“beauty shop,” “pedal pushers,” and “neat,”

instead of “salon,” “capri pants,” and “cool.”

For these words do not reflect who I am.

They are just trappings..the residue of my youth.

Inside, I am as you are,

evolving, unsettled, curious, eagerly awaiting.

So as I stand before you,

my unseen arm reaching out to you,

I plead!

Don't turn away just yet!

Don't decide we have nothing to say to each other,

nothing to give, nothing to learn...

For we are connected, you and I.

So, please, don't walk away,

for if you do the sound of your footsteps

will surely drown out my silent screams.