When You Are Loudest

By Juliet F Lalzarzoliani

Yes.

I pause and smile
as you cross my mind
while I sit with friends,
talking about politics,
pop culture,
and the lives of people
who think they are
kings and queens.

But when the noise fades,
when everyone goes quiet,
that is when you are loudest.

I miss that version of myself,
the one who laughed without trying,
who felt light and alive.

I miss the sound of your voice,
calm and kind,
the kind that could quiet
a storm inside someone.

Yes, I remember that day.
I saw you sitting with your friends
at a table.
You took off your glasses,
and you looked like my childhood crush
from when I was eleven,
when life was all mixtapes
and slow songs on the radio.

And that was enough
to miss you,
quietly,
sweetly,
all the same.

Yes.

Juliet F Lalzarzoliani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at ICFAI University, Mizoram. She writes about nostalgia, relationships, and self-reflection. She lives in Mizoram and is passionate about exploring life’s quiet moments through words.

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