Lessons Learned

I.

Sometimes, when we talk in circles,

I end the conversation abruptly, remarking –
I just don’t think we’re on the same page, you know?

And you’ll say to me,

What do you mean?

To which I’ll reply,

It’s like you’re on page 200 already
And I’ve barely made it to page 3.

You’ll keep quiet for a while,

Maybe clean the living room table,
Or the bathroom tiles –
Polish some silverware, even.

Then, after some time has passed,

Returning to the topic of pages,
You will ask –
Was there a particular book you were referring to, Tom?

II.

To the spider I killed this morning, squashing it
On the floor with one clean swing of the kitchen towel,
I felt like a powerful God
Practicing my whim.

III.

I’ve always had a hard time telling you

I love you –
Being taught as a child
            An expression, you are never to say out loud.

So I whisper them when you’re asleep, hoping that

The words in my hot breaths turn into clouds,
And you hear them, eventually, as rain.

IV.

You said to me,

The most powerful quality water has
Is its ability to adapt to any container,
Be it a tumbler, an eye, or the cup of an ocean.

And then you said,

You need to learn to be more like water.