Poem 10

Poem 10

I question everything.
I question myself and why I must question everything.
  So I am silent.

I become hungry. So I eat without question.
I become tired. So I sleep without question.
I become lonely. So I love and I hate without question–
  Without silence.

Why?

                                    -Rick Mallery

I wrote this poem November 17, 2011 as a summary of my philosophy. I’ve tried to expand on it since but continue to find that saying more says less.


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30 thoughts on “Poem 10

  1. Katie Puariea October 1, 2025 / 4:26 am

    This is so relatable. Thank you

  2. Timothy Horne October 1, 2025 / 5:02 am

    Very nice Rick. We are a curious species. Enough said.

  3. Phil Huston October 1, 2025 / 7:40 am

    That’s really the point of modernist poetry, isn’t it? The time of prolixity expired over a hundred years ago but many seem intent on resurrecting it. I do my part by leaving FANBOYS off the page, often at the expense of coherence.🤣

  4. Shaharee October 2, 2025 / 2:00 am

    That’s a beautiful and layered piece you’ve written — almost like a meditation in verse form. It feels like you’re exploring the paradox between questioning and instinct: how thought demands silence, while need and emotion erupt into action without asking permission.

    The closing “Why?” is striking — it mirrors the very cycle of questioning you described.

  5. Karin October 2, 2025 / 4:32 am

    So often less is better when writing poems – the reader fills in the gaps in their own way.

  6. pjace19 October 11, 2025 / 12:47 pm

    Sometimes saying less is more.

  7. The Typist November 9, 2025 / 8:26 am

    “I am lonely so I love without question” has always been a curse for me.

    Did I see your Georgette pieces on Unlikely Stories?

  8. Anu November 9, 2025 / 8:41 am

    It is so deep

  9. Joseph Klarl November 14, 2025 / 5:32 pm

    Nice poem. It is as if you are in turmoil between the thoughtful part of you and the part that is in fulfillment of basic needs. That you exist begins to come into question. That there is a creator is not mentioned here but perhaps exploring that is the resolution of both why and how.

  10. daydreamer December 3, 2025 / 7:57 pm

    silence is better 🙂

  11. unblogeningles December 7, 2025 / 10:59 am

    Wow, there’s something in your poem that echoes an idea I’ve been quietly working on. Strange how two strangers can circle around the same emotion without planning it.

    • Mihlali Jijana February 2, 2026 / 12:40 am

      I think that is the beauty of a writer. One thinks about it and the other writes about it.

  12. K. Ravindra December 9, 2025 / 8:33 am

    Your writing is wonderfully intricate and captivating

  13. Arya December 13, 2025 / 9:30 am

    Less is more. It’s too relatable.

  14. Stacy McCartney December 19, 2025 / 5:58 am

    I love the transition here!!… how we start by questioning our existence and end by being consumed by the noise of our own emotions.

  15. Unwrittten December 23, 2025 / 9:46 pm

    It made me pause. That’s rare.

  16. TTT December 28, 2025 / 5:05 am

    Why not?

  17. Nathan Anthony Barstad January 15, 2026 / 3:40 pm

    doubting and doubting doubting is the key to understanding, i would think…

  18. tellymeanu January 16, 2026 / 5:57 am

    Wow.. so short and deep.

  19. Nicole Mudogo February 24, 2026 / 1:51 am

    And we call it life..
    Full of mysteries and paradoxes

  20. rdwriter1 April 11, 2026 / 9:15 am

    Often, one questions by observation foremost. Wille thoughts nestle within the mind provides life’s answer’s. Of this silence there is peace.

  21. Covert Novelist April 21, 2026 / 1:47 pm

    Indeed! Well written! Few words that speak volumes!

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