Dr Roopali’s poem, exclusively for Different Truths, explores a deceptive silence, concealing a suppressed cacophony of choked voices and silenced truths threatening a violent eruption.

This is a silence that is full of cacophony.
It is so because the cacophony has been silenced.
Why was it silenced?
Because the cacophony contains many voices
and the voices are choked with blood.
If allowed to regurgitate, silence will explode
and spill blood into the cities and villages
onto drains and sewers.
A flood of voices. Voices of protest.
It will echo through drainpipes and toilets through filth
and manholes and will be heard,
and everybody will come to know. 
The truth that has been silenced.
There will be lamentations and snarls of
fierce anger, abuse, and hatred.
Better to conceal the cacophony in silence.
The many voices will not be heard.

Picture design by Anumita Roy

Dr. Roopali Sircar Gaur

Dr. Roopali Sircar Gaur is a poet, travel writer, and social justice activist. A former professor of English Literature at Delhi University, and a creative writing professor at IGNOU, she is a widely published academic and creative writer. Her book Twice Colonised: Women in African Literature, is a seminal text on women’s socio-political empowerment. In 2020-21, she co-edited two poetry anthologies – In All the Spaces: Diverse Voices in Global Women’s Poetry, and Earth Fire Water Wind.

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