Confusion.
Confusion and hurt reigned
As his words echoed back;
Altered in content,
In timbre, changed.
“No, he just said,
‘I’m sorry that happened to you'”
A higher pitched voice
Had exclaimed.
The gist was the same, the gestures were not.
The deltas puzzled him;
He thought
He was being mocked.
Puzzling, sorrowing;
Sorrowing, puzzling,
He made his way
To his destination.
Along the way a realization hit:
The differences came
Not from mocking tongue,
Nor from unfriendly desires;
A reflection
Of the differences in
Hopes and expectations
Of the direction
Of the conversation.
Soon only the echo remained,
And he wished his could have been the same.
©2015 H.K. Longmore