House of the Unsilenced, hear us roar,

Beyond the four walls of our open space,

Hear us raise our voices with dignity and grace,

Harmonising our experiences into a symphony of sounds,

Amplifying our stories in digital surround,

Multiple narratives, mastered into one,

Yet not a â€œsingle storyâ€,

Rather an intentional anthology,

Of entrusted vulnerabilities,

Whispered disclosures,

Stuttered secrets,

And survivorsâ€™ triumphs,

Hidden no longer,

Unveiled and unmasked,

Unrepressed and expressed,

Can you hear the sound?

Resounding, Reverberating,

Approaching a Crescendo,

House of the Unsilenced,

Hear us roar.

~ October 2019


Story behind the poem:

This was yet another poem that was prompted, triggered, birthed, inspired (not sure which word is most fitting) by something I heard someone say.

The specific someone was Eliza Vitri, who in her own words is a “Novelist, Artist, Rebel”. She was one of the panelist’s during a session at the Ubud Writers Readers Festival, entitled ‘Life after #MeToo’.

Towards the end of the session, Eliza mentioned an art project called House of the Unsilenced that began in 2018. Immediately on hearing those 4 words, the beginnings of a poem began in my head. The line that came to me in that moment was,

house of the unsilenced, hear us roar.

I decided that I would try and see where it would go, and if it did go anywhere, that I would try and share it. During my flight home a few days later, I finished writing something that felt shareable. Now Iâ€™ve shared it publicly with you. Feel free to share it yourself if you think it will connect with someone you know.


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