Muzzled Speech

A Narrative Poem of a young girl who could not speak due to trauma.

A demon shut her mouth; she was afraid to speak.

She didn’t realize she couldn’t because a demon shut

her up. She cried her eyes out. Growled like a dog and

clenched her fist,

because she could not get her words out. She hated

everyone, especially Momma and Daddy; in her

thoughts, she spoke loudly: “Why is no one is helping

me?” She felt helpless and cried herself to sleep. She

muttered a prayer and said, “Father God, please help

me; I am becoming truly angry.” That moment he gave

her a pen; that very moment he became her best

friend. She wrote on the page of her notebook: Will I

ever speak again? As she wrote tears rolled down her

face because she felt his very presence. As she held

her notebook firmly, with a nurturing monotone, he

asked her, “Who told you that you would die?”

“Nobody, God, I just feel I’m suffocating inside.

Please don’t let

me die.” She was afraid to close her eyes. “Rest,” he said.

She had puffy eyes and a headache from crying

because she was free to speak and say the things she

had wanted to say all along. As she fought her sleep,

she begged Daddy not to leave her alone. She felt a

sweet breeze as she dozed off to sleep. When

morning came, she realized all she had jotted down

had been washed away. Christ removed the muzzle

Satan had placed. She discovered that Christ had

given her back her speech. With that very pen, she

spoke again because the demon was driven out.