Giving Up

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“stammer: to make involuntary stops and repetitions in speaking”

I’ll wonder why you find it so tiresome –

my stops, sticking, and stammer.

It isn’t the movement, locked in my mouth

like some gobstopper, oversized, glottal;

nor the seconds, stretched through

minutes, caught in an unwound clock.

No - it’s those little glances, that space

of the moment, the clutch of some frigid smile:

you’ll quaver, blink, look away –

look back, look bored, and sigh –

check watch when you think I can’t see,

even loose a quick smirk for the nerves.

And your eyes betray you, flicking away

before they can even connect;

your patience held as only a front,

framing some meek amends.

I’ll also find it exhausting –

but you’re the one to give up.