Unabashed

Let me ask you something:
Are you the one
in the circle
not saying
anything,

the one at the
Ice Cream Shoppe
silently digging out
the chocolate chips
with a spoon and
arranging them
to say
“Help me”
across the scoops
of vanilla?

While the others
are laughing and
interrupting
each other with
loosely constructed
opinions about
the final episode of
“Game of Thrones”
or the benefits
of hot cycling?

I know you think
this “why are you
always so quiet”
moment
marks a defect,
a connectivity error,
but it doesn’t.

If you have the
courage to be
unabashed
in your silence

you might just
find a previously
unopened
entrance to
The Mystery

that will open
itself to you
while you
absent-mindedly
rearrange the
chocolate chips to
say
EUREKA!

(Photo by Steven Lasry, UnSplash)