Zileyah Onafowora

Zileyah Onafowora 

 February 06, 2019

            Sometimes Silence Is The Loudest Kind Of Noise.

Sometimes silence is the loudest kind of noise
Like sometimes it was best when
Girls were girls and boys were boys.
Like back when freeze tag was a mating dance.
Like back when “Do Over” meant you got another chance.
Like back when anxiety was worrying if Wonder Woman would make it out alive.
Like back when freedom was sliding backwards on a slide.
Like back when success was jumping off a swing and
Landing on your feet, then
Doing it all over again.
Like new shoes made you run faster.
Like getting Ms. Gross again for math was a disaster.
Like failure was a word we hadn’t even learned to spell yet.
Like promises were sealed and kept with pinky bets.
Like a challenge was a double dare.
Like ugly was a cock-eyed stare.
And you liked it…
Like when you flipped your eyelids inside out
To impress that boy across the room,
‘Cause that’s all it took.
And there was no such thing as too soon,
As long as you checked the right box in that note from across the room,
The one that he…passed her.
Back when, “I don’t know, maybe” was a legitimate answer.
Back when, “I need space” meant he needed more elbow room to draw,
So he got on the floor and he colored outside the lines.
Like the lines of color were on the floor,
So we just existed in sandboxes and playgrounds.
And we hop-scotched and dodgeballed
And everything I needed to know, I learned in a shopping mall.
Like don’t wander off on your own,
Like know who you are,
Like know where you came from,
Like never let go of your mother’s hand no matter what you do,
Like if you get lost, just stand there until someone finds you,
And someone will always look for you
Because someone will always miss you
And someone will always find you
And when you cry, someone will always remind you
In that quiet, quiet lullaby voice,
That sometimes silence is the loudest kind of noise. 

--------Bassey Ikipi

http://badilishapoetry.com/bassey-ikpi/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sudhamshu/3549644438

Image-

This image relates to the poem, personally for me because when I read the poem I visualize kids playing and having fun. Kids doing whatever they please with no care in the world. I used a picture that had a silhouette in particular because I didn’t see race. In this picture the kids are jumping freely in the open and that's how the poem makes me feel.

About Bassey Ikipi

• Born August 3, 1976, Ikom, Nigeria.
•  She is a poet but also a screen play writer.
• Bassey is also mental health advocate. 
• She was featured "Def Poetry Jam" 
• She opened for Grammy-winning artist like Alicia Keys. 
• Is founder of The Swie Project, a mental health organization that centers around black and brown people.

https://basseyikpi.com/about/

Analysis-

Sometimes Silence Is The Loudest Kind Of Noise by Bassey Ikipi, the narrator reminisce their childhood, thinking of all things that matter to her as a child and somehow now. The adult is thinking about how she is loved and that even if she doesn't speak someone will hear her silence, and how words then differ from words now. The narrator of the poem is reminiscing on the past. The narrator could possibly be sadden which cause them to think of their childhood. The word failure in the poem is used in a unique way. The narrator describes failure as a word we didn't even know how to spell, referring to how in elementary school we had spelling test and how the word "failure" was not in mind. The poem also says "like ugly was a cock-eyed stare." ugly means what you want it to mean, you depict what ugly definition is. So back to when ugly had a definition of its own it was easier to define what ugly was to you. The narrator said "And everything I needed to know, I learned in a shopping mall." Referring to when your mother sets rules so you know and understands what happens in case of an emergency. The narrator sees the mall as a place of knowledge. There is no rhyming in this poem. This is the narrator memory, and almost feels as if she is just rambling out of frustration mixed with excitement strangely. The narrator is remembering the past and what it would feel like to be a kid again. The tone of Sometimes Silence Is The Best Kind Of Noise is sentimental but also appreciative. The speaker has strong prompted feelings on the past but also appreciates the past for what it taught them. The theme of Sometimes Silence Is The Loudest Kind Of Noise by Bassey Ikipi is that sometimes even if you don't say anything there will be someone there missing you and hearing you, because you are loved and cared about.