COMMUNICATION:

HOW  IT  WORKS

I was listening – but not at first –
I sense this is how this really works –
so I began listening. It might have been
her eyes – an almost tear, a squint –
extra blinks – skin tightening
around those eyes – at their edge –
at the top of her nose – at the tiny bridge there.
Or it might have been her nervous hands –
fingernails trying to get under fingernails.
Then as she dug and dragged out her story
I could hear my stories edging upwards –
but luckily I said nothing – just the inner warning: “Shut up and just listen to her, stupid.” I did. And at the end she simply said,
“Thanks for listening.” And as she walked away
I said to myself, “I guess this is how it works.”
Then the smile in my eye. Then the wondering,
“Now who wants to hear my story?
Who wants to see my tears and hear my fears?”

© Andy Costello Reflections, 2010