“What do You Hear? a poem

What do you hear?

If I tell you that you're pretty

you won't hear a word

If I tell you that your smart

you'll call me absurd

Were I to say the many ways

you brighten the world for me,

my breath would be lost in the wind

for these words you'd surely rescind

Best to gather your attention

would be thoughts of condescension

Should I, when I want you to heed

words as deeply true as my need,

start off by calling you ugly,

dumb, no talent and virtue free?

Then I would know assuredly

that you were listening to me