Text for Speech
Location
Lost my mother
At the hands of death.
A childhood of struggle
From breath to breath.
A void too sudden
Without warning or shame.
The attempt unbearable
To call out her name.
Crawled into spaces
Where the corner was black.
Frightening the elders
That I’d never come back.
Childhood to adolescence
Produced questions galore.
Kept me partnered with pain.
Kept me balled on the floor.
At a lost for words,
Tears were my voice.
Trapped within my head
Every diary was moist.
The void was unbearable.
My voice always strained.
At the mention or thought
Of her precious name.
Once paper was found,
And there was no need to speak,
A break from choking
Allowed my hand to flow free.
I talked to it and it comforted me.
Filled me with nostalgic memories.
Things I never thought to share,
Tearing down those walls, my heart it bared.
Straight lines. Crisp paper.
Nowhere in the world is safer.
I lost my mother and almost my soul,
But with a pencil in hand, my shards became whole.
Straight lines. Crisp paper.
Nowhere in the world is safer.
No judgment. No fall.
My softest, consolation doll.