Tracheal Moss

Poetry

My solitude extended for so long
that my voice atrophied
and my trachea filled with moss and roots.
A caterpillar found its way inside
and nestled itself atop my voice box.
By the time I found a reason to speak,
the moth emerged, silencing me once more.

© Sarah Doughty

For the #MayBookPrompts – A Hundred Years Of Solitude

49 thoughts on “Tracheal Moss”

  3. Aww…I saw the end of this one coming. For someone with the voice of butterflies you should give your first person self one once in a while…

    Liked by 1 person

      6. I didn’t think you were, but I’ve been attacked in the past that started out in a very similar fashion. Please don’t take offense. I just try to avoid confrontation as much as I can.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. eh, talking is overrated. I felt this way traveling alone in a foreign country where I couldn’t speak the language. Interesting use of tracheal in this context as it is more of a clinical term, but even more so, for me it echoes treacle or treacly, cloyingly sweet, thick and syrupy to the point of choking.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I liked the clinical term, it just sounds interesting, but you’re right, the alternative versions have some significance in this context. Thanks for reading and commenting.

      Like

  9. You are so creative! And your grace, ease and ability with words, languages, and constructing phrases, is so masterful – you are, truly, a very gifted writer/poet/artist 😀

    Absolutely loved this piece!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Amazing, even though I don’t get the reference to the moth. However, on the cover of the “Silence of the Lambs” DVD, there’s a girl’s face with a moth on her mouth. Is that what you are referencing to, and what is the significance of the moth as silencer? Is it mythology… or some more modern idea?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Sort of like Silence of the Lambs. The concept is that the throat wasn’t used for so long that it became a perfect place for a caterpillar to cocoon itself and emerge as a moth, which would then reinforce the silence. The killer in the movie left a moth as his signature in his victims. The moth is significant because they’re like the ugly, dirty cousins to butterflies. It would have a much lighter effect if a butterfly emerged rather than a moth. So, if you’d person are too speak, what would come out would be dark and gruesome, rather than beautiful. Does that answer your question?

      Liked by 1 person

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