By Angel Joseph
I walk through the world with open eyes–
Every crack in the pavement speaks,
Every silence hums a secret.
I wonder-
Do they hear it too?
The hush between footsteps,
The story folded inside a sigh?
A poet’s burden is noticing-
To see beyond the surface,
To catch the shimmer in the ordinary.
But sometimes I ask myself:
Is this vision mine alone?
Do others pause at the rustle of curtains
Or trace the ache in a fading laugh?
My voice is silent,
Yet it gathers echoes-
The unnoticed, the overlooked,
The fragile threads of meaning.
I write them down,
Not to prove I see more,
But to remind the world
That even silence
Is a song.
Angel Joseph is a writer based in Gaborone West, Botswana. She writes poems that explore themes of love and longing, pain and resilience, nature, culture and ancestry, self-discovery, identity, loss and heartache, dreams, memory and imagination, healing and growth, roots and heritage, modern life and social reflection, lost love, regret and closure, hope, and life’s journey.
Her work was recognized in Rise Africa Newspaper, where she was named third-place winner for best poem with “The Thing We Never Say”. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading novels and poetry, drawing, painting, and doing athletics.
Petlwana Journal of Creative Literature and the Arts 
Leave a comment