Tag: Voice

  • The Miracle of Connection


    It’s a miracle when
    one act of
    communication
    takes place.

    We take it for granted.
    “Hello,” and
    “Goodbye,”
    but what about the words
    we're not sure how to say
    and stubbornly
    try?

    Every syll-a-ble
    we learn is from someone
    close by.

    The voice of a friend
    or the first time you heard
    your grandma
    speak to your mom
    in a way that made sense,
    when she smiled
    so you figured you knew now
    what to do.

    You got it.
    So did she.
    And what about him?

    “This flower is red,”
    that much is true. But
    “This flower is soft,”
    could be misconstrued.
    “I was talking about color,”
    she shrugs as she sits.
    He insists,
    “A flower is petals
    and my first Valentine’s kiss.”

    How many words
    for one simple
    thing?
    A moment remembered?
    An idea flying through?

    And so you see,
    even flowers mislead.
    If they can
    (uh-oh)
    what chances do we
    have to receive
    or to give
    in the way

    your experience taught
    and your family still chooses,
    and what of the friends
    that come and go,
    and the fights someone wins
    and another one loses?

    Brick by brick
    the schema is built,
    and we climb to the top

    and fall
    until

    what I said
    is what you heard
    or close enough
    to be understood.

    —Iris Lennox