A poem a day by KarlettaA
Updated: Wed 4th Aug 2021 to add context, a related blog post, and the process of writing my poem, Being Quiet.
I have been posting a series of poems this week. This is the last in my Poem a Day series of blog posts.
This is a poem about not speaking all day and enjoying it. If you like this poem, you may like Silent Wave’s blog post “Sometimes I Go Mute”.
Why do I go mute? I wrote two moment-by-moment experiences on this blog; on a bus and where I’m in a taxi going home from the shops. I’m stuttering and forcing words, that come out half formed, or not at all. Selectively mute? Nope
For over six months in 2011, while homeless and living with my mum, I could barely speak in complete words and sentences. This led me to see a specialist who put a camera down my throat. He said there is nothing physically wrong, and referred me to a speech pathologist and clinical psychologist.
I didn’t go to the speech pathologist. It made no sense. The clinical psychologist diagnosed me with autism; which again, with zero explanations and walking me through how he came to that conclusion, also made no sense. My mum, who had been told a number of times through my childhood, also didn’t explain how autism and ADD was possible for me.
A clinical psychologist also diagnosed again PTSD – not realising it was complex PTSD exacerbated by my living situation, and bi-polar. Bi-polar is ridiculous; my ups and downs/ productivity and non-productivity are from untreated complex ptsd, autism, attention deficit {wiring} disorder).
These untreated conditions, along with my untreated physical health problems, inaccessible to me through the Australian public health systems, cause/d depression, re-current unmanageable anxiety, and re-current agoraphobia. I was burnt out. My brain had stopped working, and my body refused to move at will.
Anyway, some time between 2012-2014, I wrote this beautiful poem.
I was stuck in an utterly inappropriate housing commission unit, isolated from Brisbane, up a mountain near Rockhampton. It came almost fully formed. The beats/ mood I was in gave structure for the words to flow. It is a lovely, peaceful poem.
This poem, Being Quiet, is in my eBook “Inaccessible”, which you can find on Kindle. Other e-book stores too.
I hope you enjoy this poem,
Karletta.
Being Quiet
I don’t need to talk today.
I don’t need to question it.
It would be nice,
Not to talk today.
Quietness is in my mind,
Comforting stillness says hi.
There’s nothing I need to do.
Just watch and be quiet.
Peace comes along for the ride.
“Well Hello” I say.
How nice of you to arrive.
I say one or two words today,
Only what’s required.
It’s such a lovely feeling,
Being silent,
And quiet.
Want More?
You can find my poetry chapbooks at many online eBook stores:
Inaccessible: Poetry about inaccessible things
Hope Emerges: Poetry about Hope Emerging
Musings of KarlettaA 