My Poetry Story
I’ve loved the written word for as long as I can remember. Poetry, especially, has always felt like a sacred language — one that speaks what ordinary words cannot.
I began writing at 13, quietly exploring the depths of my inner world. It was a private ritual, a way to slow down and reclaim myself in a fast-moving world.
At 16, my English teacher saw something in me. She encouraged me to submit my poem Winter to a writing competition — and that moment marked the beginning of something much deeper.
I didn’t know it then, but those early poems were the roots of a lifelong journey.
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What The Silence Gave Me
My first poetry collection
In the quietest hours, when the world fell away, I listened — and the silence answered.
What the Silence Gave Me is my debut collection, born from heartbreak, healing, and deep self-remembering. These poems trace the path of transformation — from loss to clarity, stillness to selfhood — revealing what waits when we finally sit with ourselves.
Creating this book has been one of the greatest joys of my life. It reawakened my love for the written word and brought me closer to wholeness. Woven through its pages are pieces of me — some written over a decade ago — held together by truth and transformation.
Through raw confessions, cosmic wonder, and ancestral echoes, I invite you into a return: to voice, to fire, to the divine in the quiet.
Click below to learn more about the collection and launch details.
“Fiercely hold on to the uniqueness that is you. It is your gift to yourself and to the world ”
In the quietest hours, when the world fell away, I listened—and the silence answered.
What the Silence Gave Me is a luminous debut poetry collection by Henrietta Odiete, born from heartbreak, healing, and deep self-remembering. Through verse that is both intimate and transcendent, Odiete traces the soul’s journey from grief to grace, from silence to selfhood.
Across five sections—Enter the Silence, Longing to Stillness, Truth and Reckoning, Becoming, and Remembered by Love—the poet unravels themes of loss, self-worth, spirituality, and awakening. These pieces are invitations to pause, to feel, and to rediscover the sacred stillness that lives within us all.
The hardcover edition comes with
Dark Pink or Light Pink (Original Cover) with custom ribbon bookmark
Signed copies with a written thank-you note from me, Henrietta O.
Miniature photo of the art piece that inspired the cover photo and book design
Packaged with care by me, Henrietta O.
Bring home a piece of the story, and hold it close — because this is more than a book. It’s a tangible celebration of transformation, reflection, and the quiet power of creativity.
ISBN: 987-1-0697475-0-1
Featured Poems
Thank you for reading.
These poems are pieces of my becoming. If something here moved you, then my words have spoken.
With love,
Henrietta
Learn about my writing process below.
-
Looks are deceiving —
smiles tell a thousand lies,
faintly hiding the misery
that reigns in my heart.The world pushes and pulls
in ways I do not want —
a path dead and decayed,
eroded by winds and time.Leave me here,
alone in the dead lands.
Where only dust knows my name,
where time will wash me clean. -
My heart was with nature.
My feet kissed the crimson summer—
long before I knew
this earthly soil…Long before my soul
chose my body—She was music.
She was reason,
rhyme and truth.Before I took form,
before I took flight,
I was beauty.
I was love.
I was a distant star
whose radiance
defied capture.I used to call it a curse—
this life of mine—
a life the others envied
in silence,
and in screams.They saw the glow,
not the burn.
They saw the fire,
not the forging.I scorched the earth
with my gaze.
And with this voice,
I sang a song so wistful,
I moved to a rhythm
only the ancestors knew.Somehow,
I forgot
this sentient glow,
the heat within me,
this solar tide—
these luminous skies.But I will never forget the star
that blessed me
a thousand years ago—before I took form,
before I took flight.
I was nature and soul.
I was the sun. -
I love you,
from the day I met your gaze,
I knew our story was etched in stone.
Our love heals,
It moves like still waters,
Cool and sacred,
Calm and surreal.
I remember the strangeness in the air,
the day our hearts collided,
the day I heard your voice
I was tuned to the frequency,
yours, a melody,
mine, the harmony.
I meet you in my dreams,
In stillness,
where the wind whistles your name,
where the waves echo once again
where you will be in the end
where our hearts align,
and I wake to see you smiling.
Your hand on my heart,
strong and tender as our love,
a love for the ages. -
Les étoiles luisantes m’ont menée à toi
Pendant une nuit qui m’était étrangeToi, qui me paraissais lointain
Toi, qui existais bien avant qu’on m’ait mise au monde
Avant que j’aie appris à ne plus balloterT’étais toujours hors de portée
Rien qu’un rêve
Rien qu’un étrangerQuant à ma vie
Tu l’as secouée, lui laissant tes tracesDésormais, ce n’est plus la même
-
Le hasard était atypique,
Calme de nature,
Et pourtant, si turbulent.Il est arrivé
Alors que je menais
Une vie tranquille,
Peu curieuse,
Trop sérieuse.Son éclat m’a secouée,
A failli m’étouffer,
M’a figée sur place.J’ai stoppé un instant
Pour respirer,
Pour ausculter sa présence
Avec curiosité.Tout a changé.
Rien n’est comme avant.
Cette vie-là
N’est plus à moi.
Une autre m’attend —
me promettant
La lune et le soleil
les fleuves et les océans.Elle me dit :
Ne crains rien.
Plonge dans l’abondance.
Éveille ta curiosité,
Brise tes chaînes,
Peins ton destin
De couleurs diaprées.Le hasard m’annonce l’avenir —
Que je l’accepte ou non,
Je suis à l’écoute.
Et je le serai,
À tout jamais -
Non posso dir che il cuor sia familiare,
né il corpo lo voglia abbracciare.
Pace, calma e serenità,
dentro ormai son realtà,
e in me tutto vuole restare.
“I was The Sun.” A Reflection on “Summer Heat”
Summer Heat is a remembrance — a return to origin. It speaks from the perspective of a soul that has always carried light, even when it forgets. The poem explores what it means to be born of nature, of music, of cosmic fire… and to lose touch with that truth in the noise of the world.
It navigates the tension between perception and reality: the glow others see versus the burn that is experienced. The poem becomes a quiet rebellion against invisibility, against being misunderstood — and in its final lines, it rises into full self-recognition.
To say I was the sun is not just a metaphor. It is a reclaiming. A declaration. A truth spoken not from ego, but from memory.
This piece is for anyone who has ever dimmed themselves to be accepted, who has ever mistaken their power for a flaw, who has ever forgotten how divine their essence truly is.
May it remind us all:
We were never lost.
We were always the light.