Breaking the Silence

Dear friend,

Dear nice, kind, funny, sweet friend. 

Dear smile-at-parties friend. Dear catching-up-on-Facebook friend. Dear served-on-that-committee friend.

Why are you so silent?

I’ve been holding this door open for you so long. There have been times I was almost sure you were coming through. And then, nothing. 

Silence.

You and I, we have so much in common. Loving families, good education. A passion for things we care about. Walking through life protected by an invisible blessing that others are denied. We know it’s there. We don’t talk about it. If we veer too close, somehow the conversation melts away or stalls into silence.

Can’t you hear?

The screams of the murdered.

The cries of children.

The hopeless wail of the unjustly accused and imprisoned.

The endless march of injustice: each day, each hour, each minute.

It must be so much work to build a silence strong enough to block them out.

Dear friend, 

Dear witty, share-a-cocktail friend. Dear really-means-well friend. Dear I-thought-we’d-be-friends-forever friend.

Why are you so silent?

I’ve been holding this door open for you so long. There have been times I was almost sure you were coming through.