photograph of one who stands different

(flash fiction challenge--the photograph reacted to is at Melissa's site, link below)



she’d like to talk

I think

she has things to say

and has invested in earth colors

and a visible presence

in a crowd

inside a city



who might keep her from talking?

well

she’s surrounded by black forms

hoods

perhaps hijabs like hers

(though hers is kindly brown)

and on the other side

black uniforms

of police

who also wear

visors hard to see through

and though we cannot see them

there must be weapons

somewhere



she has no actual platform

for her platform

there is a sign close by

she might be holding it



ironically

it says

SILENCE IS VIOLENCE

because

well

it is

silence is violence

if the silence is words

frightened

or (otherwise) brutalized

away from utterance

out of consideration

for fear of weaponry

arrest

and isolation

which would

once again

be silence



and this is a message

to the rest

that keeping silent

is through indifference

or only taciturn

approval

a kind of violence

in and of itself



we let it happen

let the wrong things happen

or keep

the right words

the protest words

the revealing words

get out

it’s like the leave to vote

and then

not bothering

infantilizing values

of democracy



her mouth is covered

I don’t know if

from cultural requirement

protection

from infection

or to illustrate her point



she is not tall

which is to say

everyone is taller

all around her

though she (or whoever)

holds the sign high

higher than everyone

to make her point

and maybe find

an invitation

to speak out

from up higher

sometime



she is not subjugated

yet

she’s there

she’s standing

and the sign is standing

not to mention

that the line

of her suit jacket

sends a message

of some fashion

something lined

through razored words

through silence

after all



the eyes are windows

clearly open

though the message

of a moment

might need more

some exchange

some blinking

we could get

from being there



but she needs to talk

everyone there

everyone here

needs to hear

and heed

what she has to say

the need is ours

outside the frame

to find her

and the source of words

and more

in principle

and action

to take away



C L Couch



(for) Melissa’s Flash Fiction Challenge #249

https://melissalemay.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/melissas-fandango-flash-fiction-challenge-249/

(tag #FFFC)



Photo by Priscilla Gyamfi on Unsplash

Chalk writing on the street near the George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis. "Together we will change the world."