Silence or not?

There are times you have to speak up.
Like when your basic rights are violated,
When you are betrayed,
When you are considered a fool.
You need to declare you know,
You are not stupid,
You cannot be taken advantage of.
Your anger makes it easy to recognize this situation,
And even easier to speak up.

Then there are times you need to honor silence,
To honor a special trust,
To declare that you know s/he/they know/s.
You are just waiting for them
To do or say what they need to say.
You know it is just a matter of time,
Not whether or not they do the right thing.
If you do not last long enough and ask the inevitable question,
You may be considered as someone who does not trust the other person.
Recognizing this situation is hard.
Honoring silence is harder.
Being patient is the hardest.