Do Not Torture The Quiet Child

[Cindy]

Be careful.
Do not torture the quiet child.
The one who listens and absorbs.
The one whose words reside
In the colorful kingdom of the mind.
Do not plead, beseech, and implore.
Do not shut that heavy door.
Don't supplicate and turn the key...
Make them shrink away.

"Just say something. Anything,"
Followed by many "pleases,"
Repeated in a multitude of ways.
Bribes offered become useless
Now that her words have been caged
By rampant appeals for speech.

The child longs to turn off the noise
With just one word...
Just one word...
Just one word...
To no avail.
She cannot pull them free
From bars unwittingly erected.

Do they not see the desperate eyes
That beg for clemency?
Where is mercy?
Not in that room.
Not at that moment.

Failure buzzes like a current.
Wretched cries echo across the many hills
And it rains in the Colorful Kingdom.

[Stella]

we do have to be very sensitive when dealing with quiet or withdrawn children, lots of patience is required until they themselves are ready to find the confidence to speak. An unusual but very important subject Cindy... our children are so precious

[Cindy]

Thank you, Stella.