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.