I always forget

what you say

when it is important.

When you pull

me aside

to share your wounded secret.

I am preoccupied

with my own delusions.

You are far too quiet,

I can barely hear you,

what with the sound

of the whole world

tumbling down.

 

I used to hear so well;

back when I was a prisoner,

locked in my jail cell.

I swear to God,

I could hear everything.

The light through the keyhole

was as bright

as the Sun to me,

but I’ve been out a while

and I find

I’m blind,

deaf and dumb.

 

This is it;

The answer to all your questions.

I’m hearing you, now.

Loud and clear,

I have received your message.

It’s just as I feared,

your trying to intimate

some abstract concept;

like pain relieved,

mind awake

from anesthesia.

 

It makes

no sense.

Even five by five.

I don’t understand.

Can you not articulate,

or explain yourself

in terms that aren’t

your own experience,

or internal dialogue?

 

it doesn’t matter

anyway.

I’ve heard enough

and I can see that you’re desperate.

To be loved,

to be heard,

to be understood.

The answer is, “No”.

 

 

HG – 2019