one good sibilant begets another

if you find yourself
   in a dense miasma of
   threatening consonants

surrounded by menacing vowels,
   hissing fricatives
   & glottal stops,

avoid the reaching tentacles
   of the hungry dactyls
   & beware the hidden talons
of the fierce anapests.

do not be deceived
   by honeyed labials
   in a jungle of gutturals.

take heart in the
   wordless colors
   of flowers

& thank the god
   that made you

for silence.