radio silence

do you hear that? me neither. it's silent. this book was written in the silence after the last message, after the words that couldn't be taken back. maybe acceptance comes later. maybe it doesn't, and we learn to live with what was said. the things that can't be taken back. these poems exist in the aftermath. when someone's words linger, but their voice grows distant and foggier when you try to remember it. this is learning to exist without a response. learning to move on. forcing yourself to stay away. shrinking. growing. being loud, being quiet. surviving in the radio silence. Caitlin Kelly's fifth collection of poetry following her other collections: the words of a madman, the words i wish i said, the perks of solitude, the monsters of the mind. radio silence is a collection about aftermath: the quiet following heartbreak, the distance between words and meaning, and the moments we replay when no one is responding. Written across freeways, in late-night voice memos, and in the margins of everyday life, these poems navigate relapse, longing, power dynamics, and self-reflection with restraint and honesty. This book traces movement and stillness, returning patterns and hard-earned awareness. It sits with silence rather than filling it, offering poems for those learning how to let go, how to stay, and how to survive what goes unsaid.