The Whisper

If a tree falls in the forest and
No one’s around to hear it,
Does it still make a sound?
When you whispered under your breath
And hoped to hell I couldn’t hear,
Did that make the words disappear?
No. Every leaf on every branch of every
Tree in that forest shook, so
You can stop pretending now,
Your words, they still shake me.
Mama always said, ‘Watch yo’ mouth,’
And Dad, you always told me to think before I speak,
So if child may play parent for a moment,
I want to remind you, Dear Daddy, that even though
Your lips can move faster than your brain,
You and I and everyone we know has to live with
Those supposed-to-be-silent words every day.
They can be heard, seen, felt in our every relationship,
Everything we say and all the words we don’t,
The sigh behind my smile.
Tabula rasa—I am marked.
A tree falls in the forest and,
Slowly but surely, wishing it didn’t
Remember, roots like nerves are bared to the world
As the very ground begins to shrink away.