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Michael Landau
Apr 08, 2008 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

The Silent Majority

If you don't speakYou won't be heardMake some noiseSpread the word! The pitter patterOf your feetIs nothing moreThan your retreat! Without a wordWithout a careNo one knowsThat you are there! The vocal minorityHas had their sayAnd with your silenceThey won the day! I tried to speakTo be your voiceBut, with your silenceThey had no choice! I tried to tell themThat you are thereBut, with your silenceThey didn't care!

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Michael Landau

18 years 1 month ago

Thanks!

I'm really glad you liked it! I'm really glad that it inspires you! Sincerely, Michael
Nilmini

Nilmini

18 years 1 month ago

Wow

Michael, This is a work that I wish I have written. It is a personal experience of lots of common people and I had this idea in my mind for some time. But you were quicker in putting it down into a poem and so correctly without missing even a bit! But It's not very clear who you meant by 'They' in "I tried to speak To be your voice But, with your silence They had no choice!". Who had no choice? The vocal minority? Please clarify. Thanks for the read. I enjoyed it so much. Nilmini
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Michael Landau

18 years 1 month ago

I’m glad that you enjoyed

I'm glad that you enjoyed my poem! Thank you for your comments! The people who had no choice were the people making the decisions. They had no choice because the only views that they heard were the views of the vocal minority. The vocal minority is the group whose views are heard because they shout the loudest. For example, this website has hundreds of members, but every time there's a forum discussion only a very small number of people actually participate in the discussion. I don't know why the majority of the members of this website do not participate in offical votes, and forum discussions, but I am absolutely convinced that different decisions would be taken if more people would participate in the decision process. In the United States generally, we have the same problem. Very few people actually vote. The silent majority refers to all those people who don't participate in the process, and then often wonder why things didn't go their way. To all those out there who don't participate in the process, if you don't like the outcome, you have no one to blame but yourselves! If you don't speak, you won't be heard! Sincerely, Michael
Nilmini

Nilmini

18 years 1 month ago

p.s

I pondered on this poem as I like it so much. I feel the repetition of the words “with your silence” in several stanzas dilutes the enjoyment. And I prefer to suggest few other changes, too. The poem with my proposed changes would look as follows. The words between the "..." are my additions. If you don’t speak You won’t be heard Make some noise "Shout" the word! The pitter patter Of your feet Is nothing more Than your retreat! Without a word Without a care No one knows That you are there! The vocal minority Has had their say And with your silence They won the day! I tried to speak To be your voice But, "with your stillness" "I" had no choice! I tried to tell them That you are there But, "as you were silent" They didn’t care! Hope you won't mind my suggestions. Cheers, Nilmini
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Michael Landau

18 years 1 month ago

Thank you for your suggestions!

At the moment, I'm not sure if I want to make those changes. I would prefer to wait and see what others have to say about the poem. If others agree with your suggestions, I will certainly consider making them. However at this point I would prefer to wait until I get some more reactions from other people, before I start making changes. Thanks, Michael
Nilmini

Nilmini

18 years 1 month ago

Now I got your point and

Now I got your point and know who the 'they' you meant there. But it never occurred to me that you meant the decision makers , when I read it at first. I never wanted you to change your ideas, just made some suggestions . Hope you are not offended! Cheers, Nilmini
Mark

Mark

18 years 1 month ago

MIchael, Nice !

You make a wonderful poing kind of gently with "pitter patter". I just like this poem very much Michael ! Mark
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Michael Landau

18 years ago

Thanks Mark!

Thanks Mark, I'm really glad that you like it! Are you the one person who gave it five stars? Even if you're not, that's OK. I was just wondering who gave me the stars because only one person voted even though I got several nice comments. I know we have discussed the whole "star" issue in the past, so I thought probably you were the one. If there's someone else who would like to give my poem some stars, now is the time to vote! I have never made such a request for stars before but it just so happens that it fits the theme of my poem! For those of you who don't like the poem, you can just give it one star. I would just like to see for once that people are actually voting for my poem, no matter the number of stars. It seems like I usually get good comments, but very few votes! Thanks, Michael
Mark

Mark

18 years ago

Three proplr commenting? One vote ?

What's up with that folks? You know you can always change your vote later if you so desire :) Regards, Mark Michael, I always vote unless it is a hate poem or abuse or it is so far beyond me I get nothing from it to comments on. This is an awesome poem to me Michael.
Nilmini

Nilmini

16 years 10 months ago

I read this again

I read this poem again lately as I liked it a lot. It was one of the 1st poems I read as I became a member of this community... And oh my god, I still like it soooo much. Great work Michael,you are the voice of the minority! Cheers, Nilmini
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Michael Landau

16 years 9 months ago

thank you so much!

I have been facing some difficult times recently. I can't tell you how much your appreciation of my work means to me. I'm really so very happy that you like it ! Cheers, Michael