Unheard

she sits
erect and prim:
rises to meet you,
shakes hands and meets your eyes
and smiles
from half a million miles away

she speaks in short
sentences
making sure you
understand

she listens quietly
politely
watching to be sure
you know she's
listening

and you explain; you try
really, really hard
to be honest,
calm and
clear and
open
and

she speaks in short
sentences
making sure you
understand

and
then you know that
after all
you might as well
be howling at the moon