getting on (I said getting on)

I have learned I must repeat
most things I say

I said
I have learned to repeat
most of what I say

it’s nobody’s fault
just the way things turn out
when one of us is deaf
or chronically inattentive

I said
it’s not your fault

I wonder sometimes
if silence would be better
endless repetition often makes the meaning
obsolete
but we persevere
with our circuitous linguistic patterning
of call and response

I said
we persevere don’t we

and we adjust through a long life
to all of each other’s various flaws
and foibles

well
you have to if you want to survive

I said
we get along all right
don’t we
love

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© Frank Prem, 2010

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