Without Words

by Maureen McDole

 
Even when I’m an insider, 
I feel like an outsider—
Like someone’s gonna tap me 
on the shoulder and whisper, 
I know your secret. 
You don’t belong here. 
 
You feel this way too, 
don’t you, dear human?
 
Look at us, alone 
in our own thoughts, 
searching for meaning. 
 
I savor something in a book 
or have an epiphany 
about a random realization 
and then try to articulate it 
to somebody, but it’s impossible 
to translate the feeling, 
 
and so the plump peach 
of a moment becomes
a shriveled slice.
 
I wish that I could 
hold hands with somebody 
and transmute 
what I’m trying to say 
simply 
through touch— 
 
Maybe that’s why we crave 
passionate intimacy—sex, 
another form of communication. 
 
How else can we transfer
the feeling
without words.

 
* * * * *

"Without Words" is part of Mauren McDole's collection Mending the Nets.

Maureen McDole was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, a direct descendant of carnies, carpenters and fishermen. She is the author of three books of poems, Exploring My Options (2006), Longing for the Deep End (2011), and Feast (2021). She has a BA in English Literature from USF-St. Petersburg and a certificate in Arts & Culture Strategy from University of Pennsylvania. She is the recipient of St. Petersburg Art Alliance’s 2016 MUSE Award for Literary Arts. She founded the literary arts organization Keep St. Pete Lit because she believes wholeheartedly in the power of literature to change the world.