Silence Is Not Golden

Sound muted.
Cacophony of silence.

Words spilled on a page,
sentenced to death.
Alphabet stews
bleeding false truths.

Democracy verbified.
Present tense
slanted to the future,
diagrammatical correction needed

Guide to collective nouns.
Bloat: hippopotamuses
Murder: crows
Bed: sloths
Shiver: sharks
Scourge: mosquitoes
And

Petrified: today’s Republican Congress.
Sound muted.
Cacophony of silence.
This is the saddest story
I have ever heard.

Written for Tuesday Poetics at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today Punam provides us with a number of opening lines from various books and writings. We are to take one of the opening lines provided, and make it the closing line of our poem. We must use the line as is..no addition or subtraction of words. The line I’ve chosen to use is “This is the saddest story I have ever heard,” from The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. Image by John from Pixabay

3 thoughts on “Silence Is Not Golden

  1. kim881's avatar kim881 February 24, 2026 / 3:09 pm

    The line you chose could have taken you in any direction, Lill, and I love the one you chose. A sad story indeed. I especially like ‘Alphabet stews bleeding false truths’ and ‘Present tense slanted to the future,’

    Like

  2. paeansunplugged's avatar paeansunplugged February 24, 2026 / 3:19 pm

    So many powerful lines, Lill and I love the word play. I am.glad your verse took a political slant because it is truly the saddest story of our times!

    Like

  3. rog's avatar rog February 24, 2026 / 4:56 pm

    alphabet stews is a powerful line

    Like

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