Duration: 5:10
PROGRAM NOTES:
Kamand Kojouri, poet of Let My Silence Grow shares the following:
“I wrote this poem many moons ago for my PhD novel, which took place in a fictional concentration camp in Nazi Germany – a Polish Jewish woman writes the words Historically women have systematically been silenced, disenfranchised, marginalized, and oppressed, and we still see this in some parts of the world today.
That being said, I know being silenced can also (of course) be genderless. Any person can be silenced The text (hopefully) makes us consider our own personal, individual silences and all those collective silences that came before us, the consequences of those silences, the loss, even the guilt and shame.
But there is hope – towards the end of the piece, the speaker says, “Loud as all sound can be, / let my silence be loud / so I may resurrect the dead / and give voice to the oppressed”. And then there’s that last line “My silence speaks…”
As a former educator, I witnessed what it truly means to give voice to students who felt they couldn’t speak to create an inviting space, to advocate for others, and to lead by example. One can be silent for a variety of reasons, and it is important to give voice to anyone who is silent, to foster a safe space where people can share
When one lifts a cause, they give life and meaning to anyone who has struggled, remained silent, or spoken out about that cause So, let those silences speak through your loving actions and words.
- Zachary J. Moore
TEXT:
Let my silence grow with noise as a pregnant mothers grow with life. Let my silence permeate these walls as the sunlight permeates a home.
Let the silence rise from unwatered graves and craters left by bombs. Let the silence rise from empty bellies and surge from broken hearts.
The silence of the hidden and forgotten. The silence of the abused and tortured. The silence of the persecuted and imprisoned. The silence of the hurt and massacred.
Loud as all the sounds can be, let my silence be loud so the hungry may eat my words and the poor may wear my words.
Loud as all the sounds can be, let my silence be loud so I may resurrect the dead and give voice to the oppressed.
My silence speaks.
*For Zach’s current bio please visit zacharyjmoore.com
to The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire's Concert Choir under the direction of Dr. Frank Watkins
