I hear your tormented scream
The sorrow and pain evident in your voice 
The tears streaming down your face 
As your voice crackles and distorts

 

Barely above a whisper 
Your words are now inaudible 
You cannot find the words 
Your throat constricted by sadness

 

My heart sinks in my chest 
As a thousand butterflies twist in my stomach 
I am struck by the gravity of the situation 
Unable to find the words that could appease

 

For once the wordsmith is silent 
I cannot find the balms to sooth your aching wounds 
My mind clouded only 
With the anguish emanating from the other side

 

Where are those eloquent words and phrases? 
The ones with rosy rhymes and imbued logic 
Why is it they make their escape this night 
At the moment they are needed most of all

 

I am lost in a world that I have always known 
Unable to find my way, your sadness blinds me 
I stumble and fall upon an unknown path 
One that I should know better than most

 

And yet here I stand with a heart so sad 
I can barely even breathe 
I am unable to console you 
And the loss of that ability shakes me to the core

 

Poet no more, word smith relinquished 
I have discovered a time 
When the loudest words I can speak or write 
Are the ones that I don't!