スキップしてメイン コンテンツに移動

The Value of Silence

This poem sharply examines the many meanings hidden within silence. While silence is sometimes praised as a virtue or a form of endurance, it can also become a form of surrender, thoughtlessness, or even complicity with oppressive power. Why do people remain silent, and what happens when that silence is finally broken? Reflecting on the relationship between human survival instincts and social oppression, the poem sounds a powerful warning against remaining silent in the face of injustice and violence.

  

“The Value of Silence”

 

Silence—

 

is a virtue.

Even when wounded,

it does not wound others.

Even when oppressed,

endurance is deemed enough.

 

Silence—

 

is self-responsibility.

It abandons thought.

It accepts

the consequences without protest.

 

Silence—

 

is self-sacrifice.

It seals away freedom.

It rejects autonomy.

 

Silence—

 

is the instinct to survive.

It tolerates malice in silence.

It leaves justice unquestioned.

 

Silence—

 

is the suspension of judgment.

Authoritarian power takes control.

One’s will

is burned to ashes.

 

Silence—

 

is a means of survival.

It devotes itself to indifference.

Utter nonresistance

becomes absolute obedience.

 

And when silence

can no longer be endured—

 

who is it that feels fear?

 

When silence

is finally broken—

 

who is it that stands in shock?

 

When silence

is released from authoritarian power—

 

what more is there to say?

 

Written on May 30, 2021. Reposted on April 24, 2026, from “Torii Kazuyori’s Reflections on the World.”

Is silence broken only through a resolve that risks one’s very survival? In today’s deeply unsettling world situation, we must not remain silent.

 

このブログの人気の投稿

Knowing at Sunset　(New Year’s Card, 2026)

his poem reflects on life as it is seen at sunset— not as an ending, but as a moment when past light, lingering warmth, and the promise of a new dawn quietly coexist. Knowing at sunset — the gradations of a life. Passion has not yet cooled; the days bathed in sunlight now lie distant. Life glows in the lingering afterlight. Melting into sunset — the strange encounters a life bestows. Benevolence remains precious still; with the sun at one ’ s back, shadows are cast. Life resounds in the hues of evening. Cherishing the beauty of sunset — the last story of a life. Embers have not yet burned out; in the stillness that reaches culmination, one is suffused by a new sun.
Read more »

To Those Guided by Young Children

This poem listens to life as it is reflected in young children— their gaze, their silence, their small questions. Each moment asks something of us, quietly but unmistakably, calling not for sentiment, but for responsibility, care, and action. To Those Guided by Young Children To meet the gaze of a young child demands a sincerity that faces them head-on. In a young child’s tears, an anger that must not be indulged is questioned. In a young child’s smile, the meaning of selfless joy is questioned. In a young child’s gestures, the warmth of an embracing presence is questioned. In a young child’s fragile voice, our readiness to respond without delay is questioned. In a young child’s silence, the wisdom to sense the heart beyond words is questioned. In a young child’s small questions, our breadth of vision toward the world is questioned In the radiance of a young child’s life, our resolve to protect the present is questioned. The peace a young child seeks without cease mu...
Read more »

A World of Right and Wrong

This poem examines a world where the line between right and wrong is deliberately blurred. By questioning language, justification, and power, it confronts the moral evasions that sustain domination and asks what happens when self-overcoming is refused.   A World of Right and Wrong   When facing a matter, we must examine our way of thinking. We must examine our use of words. We must examine our everyday conduct.   What is the basis that claims alignment with reason? What is the basis for asserting what is “ right ” ? What is the basis for believing one is doing good?   Is a slip of the tongue a lie meant to protect oneself? Is a mocking laugh arrogance that looks down on others? Is failure nothing more than shifting responsibility?   Self-serving values are proclaimed as legitimate. Self-centered ethics are boasted as humanitarian. Ego-driven morality is substituted for education.   One secures absolute c...
Read more »