still waters stirred

“Still Waters Stirred”

The silence struck like lightning through the vein,

A bolt beneath the temple’s ordered tide—

Yet from the slackened mouth and tethered brain

A pulse of will refused to sink or hide.

O stroke! You thief that halts the tongue mid-song,

You shook but did not shatter. In your rage

I found the fire to grip my breath, grow strong,

And write again upon a stammered page.

For though the body stumbles in the wake,

The spirit learns to dance a slower tune;

In dawnlight now, each step I dare to take

Becomes a psalm against a dark monsoon.