Deaf and Dumb

I met her in the orphanage that sheltered drab lives. A young girl past her teens, deaf and dumb, Not by birth but through an accident. She had a past, bright n’ beautiful. But the free moving gears came abruptly to a painful halt. Once her ocean was dotted with boats ready to set sail Now she seems to drift through a vacant space, Darting in and out of shadows. Through gestures wild, she tries to communicate, But mostly incomprehensible Her face often goes into scowling, As she fails to make herself understood. Yet her eyes tell a story which gleam, At the prospect, of someone ready to listen intent. Her inability doesn’t deter her from trying again and again, To recount some prized incident locked up in her memory, That is a shut vault now whose key is lost to her forever! Yet in her bastion of darkness, a lantern still flickers! _______________________________ May.2.2023 ~Placed First~ Up to 20 Lines Poetry Contest Sponsor- Sotto Poet