What worth are words
When she watched her son die
Just as they reached their prize,
Their freedom?

What worth are words
To the girl raped at age nine
Who has locked up her mind
To save it?

What worth are words
When home is rubble and ruin,
Thoughts lost in confusion?
Then what worth are words?

When they remain locked away,
They fester and build, stay
Dangerous, poisonous.

Words must be released,
And silence must cease.

I don’t know why
You’ve lost your home,
Pain wracks your bones,
You’ve been left alone.

I know I can sit
With you
In this room,
And listen.