Unsayed Words

Gathered ‘round the table, faces mask the ache,

each smile a brushstroke hiding the storm,

beneath the feast, a stillness stirs,

silences linger, a familiar norm.

Forks clink like subtle warnings,

every bite a truce that can’t endure,

while the air thickens with unsaid truths,

yet we dance around them, unsure.

The turkey golden, skin crisp like pretense,

we laugh, but the laughter falters,

what lies beneath the polite facade,

as words unspoken build invisible alters.

And in the flicker of candlelight,

I wonder if honesty could find a way,

would we shatter the silence,

or let it linger, come what may?