Listen
Listen.
Hush—listen
“Listen! I know the way!”
“But I have something to say…”
Listen
Hush again, listen.
Always listening.
Till when?
When do they get to speak,
Yell,
Scream
Out the things
they know and believe?
Hush!
Listen!
"Yes, ma, yes, da
I’ll listen.”
Good, you can listen.
Then think of the things
You believe.
Question.
Everything.
Go where the evidence leads.
But don’t listen to me.
Listen?
They just hear.
Listening is for children to keep
Them near
as they cross the street.
“Listen to me—I know what’s best.”
Likely.
“Listen! This is what is safe.”
Likely.
What will our wee’uns think when the world tell’s them
“Listen!”
Without ever giving them an ear for their own reasoning?
Poetry like this is for children
Not to read or enjoy
It’s for the grown-ups who are too busy sharing
Their story.
Listen!!
Tell them, teach them the way—show them the way, but
Listen.
Wait. Your story?
Who among us thought that our adult stories
Are worth more than,
Smarter than,
Better than
What the youngest have to share?
Listen!
Do you know more?
Likely.
Do you know more?
More than the child with a head filled with dreams of
Wicked witches and poppy fields?
Do you know more?
More than the child who’s spent their entire life
Listening?
to you?
Hanging on every word—learning to speak, eat and—
No, you listen.
What you say, what you do—they do also
Hush, listen…
“To whom?”
Hush, listen.
“To Sammy? He was born yesterday!”
Yet he listens more than you.
Listen? I know what’s best!
Yet they listen more than you…
Careful, if you spend your life speaking you’ll only stop to hear
The things you must settle down and listen to
Hush! Listen! They’ll listen, but you only hear.
In one ear and out the other end!
Listening to those who only stop to speak will teach them
Hush! Listen!
Teach them, but give them space
To let their minds create the things
They know.
And listen.
“What wisdom or any sort of sense can come from—”
Stop. Listen.
This isn’t about
What may or may not be learned
It’s about listening!
Knowing what it’s like to be heard.
So, hush, listen—you may actually learn something
If nothing else, how to
Listen!!
We used to listen, now we just hear
We’ve forgotten how clear
It is
When we just
“Listen! I’m old enough now, I can do this. Listen!”
“You’re my child, I know best, but—”
“Listen! It’s only 5 miles away and my license is here!”
So strange to be the one who listens after being heard for 14, 15, 16
Years!
They’ve learned so much—they should, they’ve
Listened.
We only hear.
Give them the lessons, the teachings but then
Listen.
They have a callow wisdom, and then they can
Listen.