Inaudible Woman


You see me though I don’t make any sound
no matter what I do or where I move.
My heart beats silently and won’t be found
by ear or stethoscope, and I can’t prove
I breathe or chew by any sound effect.
I can speak but no one hears a word.
Invisible people you’ve come to expect,
but I’m a heroine who can’t be heard.

This muting doesn’t cancel noise from shoes
I wear, or clothing’s intermittent swish,
so daylight’s too embarrassing to use
and night’s too harsh to wander where I wish,
for if I put on shoes to spare my feet
my silent self makes footsteps on the street.

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1 Response to Inaudible Woman

  1. John Looker's avatar John Stevens says:

    Your latest post (Symbiosis) drew me into your blog; I like it – it’s interesting to find science inside a poem. But this one intrigues me even more. From line 1 to the end it’s mysterious and leaves a number of questions in the mind – who, why and how – and what next? (Although come to think of it, the poem itself belies the claim to inaudibility!)

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