Try

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

to speak what is more comfortable
left unsaid
in the soft folds of a cocoon
that’s been sheltered between
splinters and wood veins
not for the world to hear it
but for you to hear yourself
when you’ve been
too unkind
too proud
too obnoxious
the plaintiff is guilty
your ears have for far too long
harboured the voices of others
instead of your own.