Silence can be symptoms, the preamble to storms, the best party of the story, an era of film.

An argument, treatment, theatre, the woods in winter. Dead air.

A plea, an absence, a stillness, a movement, the body coming to rest.

Silence is stupor. Silence is etiquette. Text messages left on 'read.' The sound of no comment.

The opposite of a statement or a statement in itself.

Silence may be acquiescence. Peace and quiet. Purposeful ignorance.

Sleep mode.

Meditative, noise-canceling, muteness. The drop of a curtain. A lack of communication.

A line cut. A certain hush. Inarticulateness.

The newest cars. The machinations of satellites. Shirt buttons. Ideally newborns. And chewing.

Moth wings. The untranslated. The buried. The reserved. The speechless. The dumb.

A reaction, a secret, a lull between actions, censorship, reticence.

Unpopulated islands, Anthony Hopkins, political movements. The audience. The credits.

Signs in the library. A rule. A complaint. The way someone treats you. The option to mute.

Silence is inboxes on Sundays, dial tones, loss of signal. Animals.

Hiking trails, abandoned malls, the sleeping cabin, an unreached decision. A power outage.

Other languages, other people, traffic announcements, negotiations, questions, static in general.

Silence is family members, strained relationships, agreements, conditions of the armistice. Parents.

Deadlines, notices, protests, walk-outs, sit-ins, rights. Community guidelines.

Writer's block, disappearances, gaps, 'it's been years since,' cats, awkward moments.

Unregistered numbers, gag orders, noncompete clauses, the threat of legal action.

Cloud formations.

The album. Bans. Deleting, retreating, dinner parties. Robocalls. Emojis.

A matter of frequency, a place to read, the space between planets, elevators, test-takers, unbroken code.

Worship, vigils, Simon and Garfunkle, drum solos.

Red eyes, spies, ghosts(?), solo flights, politeness. Manners. Long distances. Road trips. Driving in shifts.

Dead batteries, thirteen, the unobserved monster. A finger held to the lips. Shhhh.

Electronics dropped in water. Extinguished stars, interruptions, alarms, Bloc Party.

Silence is settling, is stopping, is sitting on something. Silence is a crackdown, a raid, a quelling of activity.

Is certain neighborhoods, is upheld standards, sports arenas, empty classrooms, Xanadu.

The end of the song, the beginning of the act, that which proceeds the bang, the whimper.

A forgotten password, a blog, a balm, an act of healing. A slogan, a mantra, a separation, a study, a percentage.

Swans. Moss. Coastline. Overlooks. Sunglasses. Status. Hair cuts, walks, beachfront. Leaflitter. Small hours.

Sold out merchandise, standing room only, closed doors, stargazers, benches.

No justice.

The Hoh rainforest. Jellyfish.

The last page, exact change, pictures, glaciers, red cards, candles, coffee breaks, fallen trees, Remote lodges.

Maps, mornings, night shifts, saplings, seachange. Underwater cave systems. Powerlines.

The generational divide, irreconcilable differences, separation, costumes. Practice.

Silence is accomplishment. Performance art. Finals. Windowsills, flower arrangements, obedient pets.

Watermelon, the hallways, the deck, the warning posted on the fence.

An escape route.

The purpose of architecture, the color of a bike tied to a stop sign, a specter, a graveyard, an improvement.

Legislation, records, blank spaces, misplaced information, rat nests, airplanes overhead. Pacifists.

Rocky outcroppings, species of bird,

Zoe Grace Marquedant

Zoe (she/her/hers) is a queer writer.