Strings & Silence

Everything that stings in another can show,

A mirror of wounds we still need to know,

Silence can penetrate deeper than speech,

The truth without words that all arguments breach.

How long will you dance to the pull of their strings?

React like a puppet to each poke that stings?

Perhaps it is time to withdraw, to be still,

Let mystery form by the strength of your will.

Since childhood you’ve learned to respond and appease,

To smile when it hurt, to bow and to please,

Believing your worth was to always be near,

But constant availability is prison, not care.

Predictable presence is forged as their tool,

They press when they need you, then leave you as the fool,

You think that by giving, someone will stay,

But endless supply makes your value decay.

Persona’s the mask that you’ve strapped on so tight,

It whispers I’m fine, while you’re losing your light,

You justify, hurry, defend on command,

But vanish yourself in the role they demand.

For those who expect you instant, on call,

Just want the comfort, the balm, the resolve, 

And when you set limits, their anger will rise,

Cause in what you’ve changed, their use has died.

So stop and reflect: who deserves what you give?

Your presence, your listening, the life that you live?

Or maybe the question is sharper, more true :

Who’s worthy of absence, of silence from you?

For energy is, all you truly possess,

So Guard it with care, or they’ll leave you with less,

Decide where it flows, let intention be clear,

Or the world will consume it, and you? disappear!

Cathrine Hottran 2025