"You don't understand.
"You were not there."
So?
"You can't know."
You've made your point.
So why are you telling me?
(why are you distancing me?
why are you asking me
to listen to all these things
I will not and cannot?)
(I need to say them for myself,
to pinch myself alive)
"You just happened to be here."
(your mistake was listening)
What is it about what you experience
that I can understand?
(or is it all about untouched lives
wandering about muttering,
and grumbling?)
"You can't . . . (understand this,
you don't understand that)"
(let's agree on this,)
I give up (being here, I'm gone).
November 2005
