Lost Voice

I sold my voice today.

I was warned against it;
They say I got an awful deal.

I can never speak again,
And in exchange
I lose everything I have to hide behind.

I stripped
One layer at a time
Until the would could see me;
Through me;
With nothing to guard me.

I cannot speak to tell a lie.
I cannot speak to cover my tracks.
I cannot hide behind my words…

But I cannot be bound
By the limitations
My foolish mind permits them to give me.

Every eye was upon me
Intensely
And I couldn’t say a word
To sway or dissuade
Their judgment.

No words to hide behind;
Only a vast empty space
Shared by so many prying eyes.

But the more I felt the accusations
The less they burned my bared flesh.

I cannot speak to make excuses.
I have no disguise to mislead.

I sold my voice today.
I was warned against it,
But I bartered carefully
And got exactly what I’d always needed.