I.
We talk about the failure of words,
but maybe it’s not exactly that –
a thing of timing, more, or cadence,
and how the images,
though not strange,
rest in a different context,
whose description
would take a lot of words
and tax our listeners

We may have finer sensors than we know,
with which we measure
the time we have to speak –
space of attention
in which our words must fit,
or else the bubble will disperse,
letting our words fall
and our connection with it.

II.
And then again, there is an art
to listening, without intent
to offer any words, unless
they perfectly tuck in
to the place of need
that has been shared,
which they will do
if we have rightly heard
the space prepared.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 30, 2023