Car Crash

• Catherine Robertson, Grade 11
• Poetry
• 2010

I can only hear silence.
But when I think about it, it’s not really silence.
I know I’m blocking out the crying, the screaming, the sirens.
But I can’t help it; I want to pretend.
-
The silence is broken by whispers: I can’t understand.
I feel helpless, like too many people are know a secret that I don’t.
Their silent pity is overwhelming; I’m drowning in it
I can’t stand it.
-
The silence is gone; no longer hearing.
Or seeing. Or touching. Or tasting.
Yet, silence is so loud now; I wish it would go.
I can’t bear it.
I feel dead.
-
I can only hear silence.
But the silence I hear isn’t really silence.
If I try, I can hear the steady beep telling me that I’m alive.