The Curriculum of Silence

This poem is a critique of systems of education and authority that condition people to obey rather than speak out, and expresses how institutions promote the suppression of free speaking. It's about silencing as control, especially with language, history or political voice.

I remember in those days, they lined us in rows like ruled, uncreased parchment

taught us to underline, never question.

such bones of contention in building premises were rebellion, and

Every answer, a muzzle. Silken gag.

We followed, to conjugate obedience, punctuate the hush

we wrote in their alphabet but swallowed our mother tongues, like curses

Though no blade kissed our fingers, our pens bled just the same;

they fear the sound of our voices, for we are louder than print.

We are taught to compose, not confront,

to cite the law, but never who it failed

Yet still, in the margins, we scrawl out the lessons omitted

On desks, in notebooks, between the lines.

Empires fall, not by the sword, but

by the sibilance of a thousand, voices once told to stay silent.

About the Writer: Iris is a 17-year-old writer and musician, with her hobbies including reading, writing poetry and articles, as well as playing her beloved saxophone in her jazz band. As someone passionate about the arts, she also does visual arts in her spare time, especially photography.