I Do Listen (spoken word piece)

This is my attempt to write a spoken word piece. It's a lot of text but I wrote it with a certain flow in mind. This might be different to you as a reader, but I hope the message still comes across!

If we have a conversation face-to-face

I have to apologize in advance

Because sometimes there's this thing I do
Whenever I interact with you

I get sidetracked and with this I break our conversation pact

Don't get me wrong, I hear all that you say

It's just that my focus can easily stray

So although my attention can be stolen away

It's never lost and will always be found

Because it always comes back around

I'll explain why this happens

Let me break it down;

I look at the ground when I listen

To you saying you admit you're losing it and how you wish everything could just pause for a bit 

To you telling me that you're telling yourself to keep breathing when life punches you in the stomach and all the air in your lungs is leaving

To you explaining to me that for you the days have turned into nights and the nights have turned into days because when the world is awake all you want to do is sleep and when every house turns their lights off you stay up, enjoying the silence you have wanted to hear the moment the world woke up

I listen and I hear you, I promise I do

But during me listening to you

My eyes can't help but notice the ant on the ground carrying a crumb way too big for its body
Yet it keeps walking because it's his mission and all he knows is this condition

And in addition, I see a leaf gently falling into the water right beside us and I see it create little waves and I watch how their repetition causes a ripple effect

But I hope you don't view my distractions as disrespect because if you do you're incorrect

My divided attention is no neglect because what I see I reflect and connect back to your subject

Because when I look up and see your sad eyes staring at me hoping I will bring relief to your hurting soul I want to tell you about that ant I just saw

About how he can carry ten times his body weight and how I think you do the same
So this ant I was analyzing is actually symbolizing you

The you that is carrying so much weight on your shoulders and without realizing you keep living and just like that ant you keep giving crumbs to the ones you care about tons

Or I want to say to you how the ripples in the water I was observing are just like the waves of sadness you're not deserving but you're still surfing them despite your mental mayhem

And my thoughts keep going when those somber eyes pull away from mine, giving me a sign you're still not doing fine

When you're telling me you want to disappear and escape because living is just too much work and you're running out of bandages to put on your soul since it feels so broken it's beyond your control 

I could just tell you that this mindset is a mistake but those words won't mend your heartache 

Instead I want to point out the nightly mist that's surrounding us because all I can think of telling you at that moment is how this mist can be seen as simple water drops but if you think outside the box you can see it as cloud nine surrounding us

But I have to admit, not all of my distracted thoughts connect deeper underlying dots

Sometimes I just want to point out something intriguing my eyes or ears come across

Whether it's a weird looking tree or birds chirping songs that sound familiar to me

Yet most of the time I don't share these details because I'm no fool

I know in my mind these things fit perfectly together

But for you they probably don't make sense whatsoever

So not telling you these comparisons is probably better

Plus, saying them might seem impolite but during difficult conversations I think my mind tries to keep it light

Maybe it's a coping mechanism to protect myself with optimism but I understand that for you it can be a point of criticism 

I'm just not very good with words so I look around for assistance 

So I can tell you these things to help you with this whole difficult existence 

And all these examples show how my mind works when you tell me the reasons behind every sigh

I just wanted to let you know communication is not my strength, but I do try

So now when I give you a seemingly unrelated reply, you will know why

Reviews

[BlackPrince]

This is a really touching and honest outpouring of emotions that manu people will relate to.

WELL DONE

[Lala]

Thank you for your response! :)