You Don’t Say!!
Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com
I tried to make my voice heard –
I spoke above the crowd,
But regardless of how I shouted
My voice was not very loud.
.
The people in the front row
Seemed to dominate the room.
Their opinions were voiced strongly,
Then the meeting was resumed.
.
I could have screamed in protest,
“Wait – I need to speak, to be heard!”
But who am I, an unknown peon,
No one cared about my word.
.
So I rolled myself out the door
And went out into the rain.
A fellow member followed me,
And he sang this sweet refrain:
.
“It doesn’t always work to shout
To have your thoughts convey
The sincerity of your heart –
Actions are louder than what you say.”
.
By leaving quietly as I did,
I spoke a thousand words.
And as he held his umbrella up,
His sweet song joined the birds
.
Who chirped their hopeful message
And never needed to shout.
Kindness is the loudest act…
It tells what we’re about.
It was a revealing moment.
I thanked my friend and grinned.
“You don’t say!” I replied to him-
As he turned my chair against the wind.
.
The meeting was still plodding
On with voices heard from out here,
But the real message was the silence
Of my friend’s actions – his kindness, and his cheer.
.
It’s what you don’t say
That counts in the long run.
It’s what you do that makes a difference.
Get out your umbrella- and join the fun!
.
P.S.
This was inspired by something I observed,
not by something that happened to me.
But, maybe parts of it have happened to all of us.
Times we have not been heard.
Times we have observed others being ignored.
Times we needed to just get up, and go outside,
and offer our “Umbrella.”
Maybe it’s a hug –
maybe it’s a simple smile –
but it speaks volumes!
You Don’t Say!
See ya tomorrow
Comments on: "You Don’t Say!!" (9)
Jan, thank you for sharing your observations in this poem. The deeper I read into the poem, the more I felt about the intention of this prose.
Thank you for reading deeply – and seeing the intention… and then taking time to comment. I appreciate you! Have a heart-felt day! <3
Very sound. When I am interrupted I just stop talking. It works wonders
Great technique. Makes the thoughtful person think – and the observant notice the oblivious! You’re a wise one, Mr, Derrick! <3
Thanks very much, Jan
Silence is a magic trick I used when my classroom was too noisy. I discovered also, that when I had laryngitis and could only whisper, my students were amazingly quiet. Interesting how that works, isn’t it?
Indeed
Thanks for this. May I use my pent up energy to DO something helpful rather than SAY something out of frustration that I will later regret.
I’ll pray that for you, too!