The words

Answer if you hear the words under the words.*
Answer if the words you hear are true.

Days go by with acid spit on words.
Words spoken only for the sake of an argument.

You say, so I’ll say.

Days go by, and I hear wincing with each response.
Sometimes forming a comeback, sometimes putting my head down.

And last night I answered, answered and stepped away.
Not willing to engage, I’d spoken.

This morning I woke to a question, easy to answer.
An answer without a comeback.

A morning walk met by a gentle downpour.
The words had been heard,
the words under the words.

• Naomi Shihab Nye, “The Words Under the Words”