FLUENT IN SILENCE
Silence has many forms.
Sometimes it protects.
Sometimes it connects.
Sometimes it carries what we are not ready to say.
And sometimes -it becomes the very thing that harms us.
This collection explores silence not as absence but as language.
A language learned, inherited, shared and,at times reclaimed.
These poems are not just about what is unsaid, but about what silence holds-love,fear, memory, power and choice.
-Nandipha Chibwe
THE ANGRY DAUGHTER
Anger often hides vulnerabilityWhy are you the angry daughter?
Why do you carry your head so high
and wear your face so low?
Why do you scream at everybody,
yet speak so loudly
with just your eyes?
I am the daughter
who was made to grow up—
forced to mature
beyond my years.
My anger is the only way
I know how to show strength,
a shield to hide
the vulnerability
I am not allowed to express.
I am not allowed to break down and cry,
though anxiety consumes me.
I am not allowed to be carefree,
to laugh too loudly,
to exist without expectation.
I am not allowed to be a girl—
for I have responsibilities,
and mouths to feed.
I am expected to be sane,
yet superhuman.
Invisible—
yet leaving visible footprints
for those who follow.
So maybe I am a little angry.
You would be too.
I am expected to have all the solutions,
yet I am still the problem.
A never-ending cycle
of expectation and frustration.
I am the angry daughter.
The fear I inflict
is the only respect
I have ever received.
I keep breaking my back
to distract myself
from the weight of my heart—
and the pain I am not allowed to express.
For to love and be loved
is to be weak—
and I cannot be weak.
So I remain the angry daughter,
a shield around my truth.
But in the quiet of night,
a question lingers—
Who can love
such an angry, bitter woman?
And still it echoes:
Why are you the angry daughter?
This poem explores the struggle that arises when we are forced to mature too quickly, and the struggle of navigating expectation, identity and self acceptance.
#Hate #Reconstruction #Reflection #TessieWrites #TheWrittenStudios #Poetry
Fleeting Beauty
There is beauty in the ephemeral,in the fleeting moments we often overlook.What a beauty it is
to behold a sunflower,
crafted with precision, so bold.
Intricately designed—
each seed, each grain
carefully arranged,
a testament to the Maker’s hand.
What a joy it is
to be a sunflower,
with petals so fine and fair,
lifting its face
to the morning sun,
finding warmth in golden air.
To smile as the day begins,
to follow the sun’s gentle spin.
But as the light fades
and evening draws near,
the sunflower bows its head—
humble, reverent, sincere.
Like us, it returns to the earth,
its beauty a fleeting gift,
fragile and rare.
Yet in its splendor,
we see the Maker’s art—
a masterpiece
both delicate and strong.
A rose is lovely, yes—
but a sunflower,
oh, that is a work of wonder.
A reminder
that we, too, are crafted
with precision, with care,
with love divine.
What a beautiful, tragic gift—
this life of ours,
so fleeting,
yet so profoundly designed.
This poem reflects on how nature reminds us of divine craftsmanship in both the world and in ourselves.
#Art #EveningDevotionInsights #Newbeginnings #NewHabits #Spirituality #TessieWrites #TheWrittenStudios #WhyIwrite #Writing #Beautiful
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