by Timi Sanni
A Study of Silence
Silence. A function of time devoid of memories, the gaping space between
two points in history where truth is a coward hiding in the shadows,
the chasm between two instants in time.
Silence. A spectrum of colours, a passing, yellow like the pause that comes
before father speaks white like the cloth that would shroud Muhammad
the day his soul becomes a Judas to his body and sells him
for twelve pieces of eternity
We do not talk of the instant that comes like the night like longing, black
between an ellipsis and a reply in a lover’s chat.
The consuming void in the heart of chaos like these thirteen reasons
why I’m an inferno of silence a record of forgotten tracks:
Rage & fear & loss
& worry & grief & heartbreak & death
& despair & guilt & loneliness
& shame & sorrow
Silence having lost the game of soundlessness becomes noise becomes
my heart scrambling for a signal, lost in the alien world becomes a white linen
begging for a kiss of palm oil. I am a broken lover longing for the melodies
of your tongue, searching for a panacea to this deafening maelstrom. Silence is an ember
within the belly of a dragon, burning, waiting for the breath that kisses it into light, into fire
You sing into a drum, it replies you with an echo of your voice
Silence as a dull throbbing of pain that refuses to go away.
Timi Sanni is a coffee-loving poet, writer and literary enthusiast who bends and blend genres in his writings. His works have been published or is forthcoming in literary journals like Writers Space Africa, Rather Quiet, Fitrah Review, Nanty Greens, Praxis, African Writers, Fiction Limbo etc. He is a SprinNG Fellowship Alumnus and won the Writers for Humanity poetry contest in 2019 as well as the Fitrah Review writing contest in 2020. When he is not studying or writing, he is either painting or exploring new places. You can follow him on Twitter