The Lost Art - Dec 30 2023

 

The Lost Art

Dec 30 2023

The art of conversation.

Which doesn't have to be

an Algonquin Round Table

of badinage

give-and-take

witty repartee.

Because even those of us

without the sharp minds and gifted tongues

of the urban literati

can learn the art of listening.

Do the hard work of empathy.

Cultivate a willingness to change.

What it's not is scoring points.

Impatiently waiting to speak

while you think of what to say.

Probing

for the soft underbelly

of personal shame.

Not a pissing contest

or winner-take-all debate.

It's face-to-face

and names named,

because anonymity

is poison.

And let there be no illusions

minds must be changed;

because mostly, they aren't.

Just a civil conversation

then a parting of ways;

having had your say,

exchanged handshakes,

and hopefully agreed

to talk again.