One Thing I Know

By Ryan Mimna

Poetry comes for the soul
Always spoken, sometimes silent
Like the rain, it speaks of pain
It comes like the rain when it speaks pain
Drips on the tongue
Sweetened by sunshine
Soured by experience
Hides in the cracks of crevices unknown
Silenced by what made it born
Suffering silence, forgotten truths
Suffer in silence, live the lie

Poetry comes from the soul
I lost it a lifetime ago
Hope, it was forgotten to an endless slumber
Screaming silence into the night
Dancing on a dream of hope’s flight
Poetry comes for the soul
Banshee screaming, born of dreams unknown
Suffering of the silenced
Fear seeps into the soul
Nightmares we make normal
Be quiet.
Trauma of the soul
Death of dreams untold
Promises to keep, life takes its toll
One thing I know
Always spoken, sometimes silenced
Found what was once forgotten
One thing I know
Poetry sings the soul

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Ryan Mimna lives in Philadelphia and works in the finance industry. He served in the U.S. Army from 2011 to 2015 and, after completing the Ranger pipeline, served with 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, including multiple tours in Afghanistan. After leaving the Army, he finished a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, where he began writing and later turned toward poetry. For The Havok Journal, he writes reflective pieces and poetry, often centered on fear, meaning, and the inner life.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.