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
Ce Que Le Silence M’a Offert
My first poetry collection, Mon premier recueil de poésie
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.
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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. -
Que tu te souviennes toujours de moi,
Même si tu es à distance,
Même si nous ne parlons plus.Je sens encore ta présence,
En ce moment,
Comme si tu étais à mes côtés.
Tu as été la première à me voir,
À me créer de l’espace,
Quand le monde m’était indifférent.Je me souviendrai toujours de ton sourire,
La première fois que tu m’as embrassée,
Tes doigts entrelaçant les miens,
La galaxie dans tes yeux.
Ce moment-là me sera interminable.Que tu te souviennes toujours de moi,
Même si tu es à distance,
Même si nos parcours s’éloignent.
Je me souviendrai toujours de notre amour,
Spécial, pourtant éphémère,
Même si ce n’était pas le destin. -
Les apparences sont trompeuses —
Les sourires racontent mille mensonges,
Ne voilant que la misère qui émane de ce cœur.Le monde me fait basculer
De façon à m’en rendre malade.
Les chemins,
Une fois des terres fertiles,
Sont érodés par les bourrasques et le temps.Laisse-moi là,
Seule dans mes terres mortes.
Là où le désert me marmonne ses secrets,
Là où le temps me purifiera enfin. -
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. -
Ricordati di non dimenticarti di me anche se sei a distanza, anche se non parliamo più.
Sento sempre la tua presenza in quel momento como se mi stessi più vicino, sei stata la prima a vedermi, a crearmi spazio quando il mondo mi era indifferente
Mi ricordo del tuo sorriso, del nostro primo bacio, mi stringevi forte, la tua mano col la mia la galassia nei tuoi occhi, quel momento mi sarà eterno.
Ricordati di non dimenticarti di me, anche se sei a distanza. anche se i nostri percorsi si allontanano, di tanto in tanto. mi ricorderò sempre di questo amore. tanto speciale quanto effimero, anche se non era destino.
“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.