'The Silence' by Joan Barker

In this week’s poem, Joan Barker writes about coping with an unexpected loss. I love the rich dream imagery of this poem, the sounds and frank sense of longing, and the beautifully tangible description of meeting a lost loved one.

Barker is a teacher and writer who has worked in the Portland Public Schools, in rural Niger with the Peace Corps, on military bases in Afghanistan, and with refugees in her home state of Connecticut. In addition to being a poet, Barker also wrote op-eds on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which appeared in the Orlando Sentinel, the Miami Herald, Stars and Stripes and Mother Jones.

Poets, please note that entries for Deep Water are open now and through the end of the year. Deep Water is especially eager to share poems from Black writers, writers of color, Indigenous writers, LGBTQ+ writers, and other underrepresented voices. You’ll find a link to submit in the credits below.

The silence
By Joan Barker

I still have the dreams, years later
make your secret visits

I am in the shadows
and light fills the space around you

Golden light
floated over tire tracks in the sand
Golden light
shimmers softly as it lands
at the foot of clay walls
along the sleepy streets
of the city
at dusk

I need to see you, I need to know
To hear the silence, I need to know
that it’s over, that you’re safe
I watch you slowly float by

They say you can’t see eyes in dreams,
but I see yours,
and you are not afraid, and I am happy
that we are strangers again
while you melt into the sea
of silhouettes, silent shadows
and anonymous figures
work closer and closer
towards the edge of the city
deeper and deeper
in the blinding glare of the sunset glow

Did you make it?
Tell me, love,
are you already in the silence?

Megan Mopperen is a poet and writer living in Portland. Deep Water: Maine Poems is produced in collaboration with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. “The Quiet,” copyright 2024 by Joan Barker, appears with permission of the author. Entries for Deep Water are open now and through the end of the year. For more information, visit mainewriters.org/deep-water.