Strangled Silence

 

I have a friend in Russia.

We send each other messages.

That say nothing.

His father is a poet.

No news, only greetings are exchanged.

We long to converse freely.

But he lives in fear.

I say nothing of consequence.

To protect him.

Silence stands in our way.

We are afraid to speak openly.

He lives under a dictatorship.

I live with it as well.

He has a wife and son.

I fear for them.

This is the misery of tyranny.

It destroys body, soul and mind.

It personifies evil.