I hate small talk;
but if it means I am getting one step closer to knowing
who you really are,
then I guess it’s worth it.
Nowadays the doors are closed,
not because of incapability but simply because we choose it;
gone are the days
when people would engage in deep conversation—
favorite movie,
a casual comment on the weather;
that’s all good and relevant but what about insecurities and fears?
What about things that keep us up at night?
I’d like to think there is still a chance,
to pull a plain cheese from the oven just to make somebody laugh—
there is heaviness in apathy,
there is heaviness in silence.
Photo credits: Pinterest
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Posted for Open Link Night #276 @ dVerse Poets Pub
50 Responses
Sanaa, I despise small talk too. It’s dreadful, it’s scary, and worst of all…
It’s BORING.
Haha. But, I understand at the same time it can be helpful into getting to know someone more. I’ve been through that too. This is so visceral, realistic, and saddening especially with the pandemic. I really love these lines:
“to pull a plain cheese from the oven just to make somebody laugh—
there is heaviness in apathy,
there is heaviness in silence.”
Beautifully innovative, real and raw. Stunning work, yet again.
Thank you so much, Lucy 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
I don’t mind it because it means getting to know someone better. I miss long and deep conversations too. Social media is not helping at all. Your last 2 lines summed it up very well.
Thank you so much, Grace 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Another successful departure from romance motifs (which I like), to something more somber. For me me, small talk is the foyer, the bridge to more serious social intercourse.
Thank you so much, Glenn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Oh, that heaviness – I feel it too! And I also hate small talk. Really difficult to break down barriers and start talking about more meaningful things without it though. A poem for our times!
Thank you so much, Ingrid 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
I’m not so good with small talk either, Sanaa, or at deeper conversation these days, unless I know the other person well. I find it easier to write. This is probably because of the current situation and the fact that I have become used to my own company. But there is indeed heaviness in silence, and I’d like to get back into the habit of chatting again.
Thank you so much, Kim 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
I think we grow to value the small talk (especially if it’s all we can get) but I think we still engage in it in the hope that it will snowball into something important …
Precisely! Thank you so much, Bjorn 🙂 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Silence weighs heavy at times – and there seems to be a lot of it about. You’re right, we need to open our doors and …pull our cheese out of the oven!
Thank you so much, Sarah 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
This resonates with the depths of my soul, Sanaa. The first four lines could be my life’s motto. Haha, but really.
Thank you so much, Jenna 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
The unintended consequences of quarantine…I feel that heaviness too.
Hopefully the world will return to normalcy soon! Thanks for stopping by, Lynn 💄❤️
I dunno…No talk is small talk, I think.
🙂
We do miss the small connections that turn into large ones.
Exactly! Thank you so much, Kerfe 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Very good, a very mind provoking poem here. We can’t talk religion or politics anymore… but perhaps we should; small talk is… small
Thank you so much, Francis 🙂 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
I prefer conversations of substance over small talk but small talk is what greases the wheels of community so it’s good to cultivate some tolerance of it. I echo what Ron said, “No talk is small talk.”
I agree with you Sanaa about the oppression of silence in relation to another, especially when one’s mind runs to conjecture, which it sometimes does. Good poem that opens the topic for discussion.
Thank you so much, Lisa 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
there is heaviness in apathy,
there is heaviness in silence.
Yes!
We need more communication
and understanding as well.
We should all try to open the doors.
Definitely! Thanks for stopping by, Tricia 💄❤️
The year keeps getting bent and twisted by pandemic and its ill affects. What are we going to do with this laden isolation?
Thank you so much, Brendan 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
‘pull a plain cheese from the oven, just to make someone laugh’ – is such a fun line that breaks the serious tone of what’s gone before & contrast with the ‘heaviness’ in the final couplet. Lovely light playful writing.
Thank you so much, Peter 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
there is heaviness in apathy,
there is heaviness in silence.
Given the abhorrence or inconvenience of small talk it is still worthwhile considering the torture of tolerating the above. Agreed Sanaa!
Hank
❤️❤️❤️
So thought provoking. I think recent isolations will magnify this problem.
Thank you so much, Patricia 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
You are so right on this one. I miss the conversations and interactions of the past. It is like we all ended up in Russia where someone is always watching only this time it is Covid that is watching and waiting for us to slip up! Great poem Sanaa!
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
I like this topic of what makes meaningful conversation. The art of conversing has not been lost. There are still many out there who want to share and listen from the heart. I am one of them.
Thanks for bringing this up as an opportunity to reflect on habitual ways of being that we can always choose to change if we want to.
Thank you so much, Alicia 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
This resonates deeply, especially now. Easy comments placed on social media mean nothing when you are looking for true, meaningful, caring conversation. I find small talk more difficult than completely opening up and laying my feelings out to the world, as strange as that seems. A candid and comfortable flow of thoughts from you, Sanaa and I really enjoyed it.
Thank you so much, Mish 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
The warmth of your sincerity and genuineness of your soul came shining through in this sweet poem. These are lonely and volatile times we’re living in. It can be hard to open up and make ourselves vulnerable when we have been burned before. 🙏
I completely understand and relate. Thank you so much, Mother Wintermoon 🙂 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
I enjoyed this. Both have welcome attributes. While deep conversation can be rewarding, there are times when the diversion of small talk can lessen a weight that seems too overwhelming.
“there is heaviness in apathy,
there is heaviness in silence.”
Love this, Sanaa, captures the moment we are in…JIM
Such insight into the need for small talk but the necessity to go deeper. Great poem.
I don’t mind small talk but I love to really have meaningful conversations.
Wow this is just too good!!! And true!!!
First, I’m glad I learned how to comment here—it was a journey! 🙂 Second, not only is heaviness found in silence and apathy, but also in just about everything we do or think during these pandemic days. And third, sometimes all we can muster is small talk, but surely it will sustain us until we are able to feast once again on those deep, soul-nourishing conversations.