Lyrics of My Minute Long Silence

I believe our words fail us, it's the music. 
Always the music. 
My birth was musical. 
My father heard drum rolls and gun shots when I was born, my mother heard Shehnai, my Grandpa heard acceptance of war stories he would narrate in future. 
For me, I heard their voices. 
Since then,
 I've been hearing voices. 
All the voices except mine. 
If you hear my voice for 30 seconds, you will only hear common voices that don't belong to me, Like I'll say I'm fine, 
I'll say I'm living.
If you hear me speaking for more than 40 seconds, 
You might start hearing the undertones of my voice.

You might start smelling a rebellion,
 but a soft one,
 the one which sounds like an apology sealed with courage of a 20 year old who wants to change the world. 
If you hear me speaking for more than 50 seconds, 
You might start hearing my silence 
My silence has more voice than any other sound bite on planet earth. 
My silence can slam doors and bring down tyranny but it prefers brooding in a safe space, 
I call it Solitude, I mean escape. 
My silence can break years of oppression and bring equality in 60 seconds 
but I'm not sure if anyone will hear it. 
So I gulp my own voice during dinner table conversations when someone asks about my political opinion.  
On days when I don't believe in this world,
 I let the tape of my silence fill the room with all the meanings I've been searching for all my life

Copyright © Ridhi Bhutani | Year Posted 2020

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