The loudest voice is silence – Conscience.
At long last I realized,
You were never absent in my life,
Instead, I realized you were always there.
Always had been, always were.
I’d never taken heed of that silent cry,
The begging to be noticed,
The pleading to be acknowledged.
I’d ignored you like everybody else did.
Most of the time, in fact, all of it.
As they went about with their daily business
Butchering what was most precious to them
Wreaking havoc, creating destruction.
I sat by the window, wondering why.
And how and when and where.
Wondered everything, never knowing
The answer was in front of me.
All along, you. You were the answer.
And finally, as I breathe my last,
The tiny wisp of breath leaving my mouth,
I notice you.
Pale, tired, weary. Voiceless.
And, for the first time, I hear you.
My conscience. Conscience.
You speak to me, in complex words.
And yet, it’s all painfully simple.
I was wrong. Wrong in not listening.
Wrong in doubting the truth.
Wrong in not paying attention to the heart.
Wrong in wronging others.
And as the wisp begins to float higher into the air
And my eyes close,
I rest in the fact that I did finally see my conscience.
Right from wrong.
Which is more than many others can ever say.
–Meenakshi
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