Pascal, Quiet, Dialogue When We Can Get It

   by Susan Stevens
 
 
Pascal said all of man's problems stem
from his inability to sit quietly,
alone in a room.
 
It is because you and I talk for hours
that I can write this poem, quietly,
alone in a room; or it may be because
I sit alone in a room, quietly,
that I can talk to you for hours.
 
I go home after one of our talks
and find I can't get out of the car:  I'm pinned
inside by your earnestness--held
by your part of the dialogue that refuses
to preach, discredit, or convert.
 
You're at ease
in your body.  And why I tell you this
eludes me, save to say it comes to me
in times of quietmindedness, alone in a room
with you and Pascal standing by.