Silenced Voice

I try to speak out but am locked in silence
Words are stone, offering no compliance
What once flowed out with seeming ease
now seems completely, totally, lost to me

The empty page once made me brave
able to express every yearning I craved
Now its blankness leaves me cold and hollow
no longer a refuge in which I can wallow

I’ve searched for my voice again and again
could not find a single word with which to begin
I’ve fumbled about, trying hard not to care
that no longer my heart am I able to bear

If I knew why, perhaps it could be changed
no longer from myself would I be estranged
For meaning or insight, high and low I do seek
even as the landscape grows dark and bleak

Where has it gone, that phrase so well turned?
Can it ever again to me be returned?
Where is it hiding, my poetic soul?
If I’ve lost it completely will I ever feel whole?