Quoted lines are from Luke 13:29-30 and Mark 9:35
Silence won’t stand
for itself. It won’t
stand for taking
the high road,
or being the bigger
person, or grace
under pressure. Silence
doesn’t turn coal into
diamonds or the meek
into lottery winners.
The silent do not inherit
anything but the remains
of the earth, a sour sky
and the bluster of Trump.
Silence will not stand
upright, homo sapiens
spine strengthened by Pilates,
cracked regularly by chiropractors
who puff and promise
results like politicians
and defendants on Judge Judy.
The silent crouch in caves,
another species entirely
waiting to be discovered,
their heads measured
and DNA scraped (final
analysis: alien). Those
who are frequently
silent will be mistaken
for compatriots. They
will stand for complicity,
for agreement, for assent.
The silent will not stand
up for themselves.
They will not be the “last
who will be first,”
make ascents of any kind,
collect hymens like scalps.
They will be “last of all
and servant of all.”
They will relive history
because silence will stand
for not understanding
consequence, karma,
the geothermal need
of the oppressed to explode,
and whoever is left
standing gets the floor,
so to speak.