dVerse Poets – Open Link Night
Photo: gettyimages.com.au
“There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing.” G.K. Chesterton
The Story Is Not The Story
And to think that I was so accusing
that you were in fact listening
the whole time and
able to regurgitate the whole
of my conversation
line by line verbatim,
you really listened,
and yet you didn’t hear at all,
you didn’t hear the story
within the story, for the
story is not the story,
the story is merely the
carrier of the story within
the story.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
parallax 
Ah yes, those cryptic conversations 😔 Beautifully and accurately said Paul.
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Many thanks Christine 🙂
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Must be a man (not) listening to a woman.
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Lol. Not so fast … taint necessarily so. 🙂
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In my world, unfortunately, it is.
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That is difficult to sit with.
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Right, Paul! There are times a woman also listen not accurately to a man. 😉
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Absolutely, it’s a human thing, not a gender thing, we’re all bad at it at different times.
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😉
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So accurately described the difference between hearing and listening.
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Yes, drives us all mad when we’re the recipient 🙂
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So it does!🙂
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🙂
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The traps of communication – every couple can relate.
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Absolutely VJ, strange how we fill both roles.
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Sure is!
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Oh my….you’ve described a truism here. When I was earning my first MA in communication, I actually took a course in the Art of Listening. When I shared that fact with folks, they chuckled and wondered what in the word you could do for an entire semester…just sit there and “listen” ????
Your poem made me smile thinking of my favorite professor who taught that course….and later in life, became a surrogate father to me and surrogate grandfather to our children. He was a gentle soul….perhaps that is a necessity too for one who listens and hears. So much to the story as we speak….
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I did some electives in communication theory, I was, as a callow youth, amazed and I learned so much. Thank you Lillian. Your professor clearly listened very well to you, he listened past the words. What a precious friend.
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Truth
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Thank you Ruth.
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Sometimes, if not often, the story is in the unsaid. For some, that kind of dialogue is difficult to grasp.
Love this one , Paul.
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Yes, the presenting story is merely the carrier of the story, often told in feelings, or body language, among many nonverbals. It is very difficult for some, as I’ve experienced them missing the mark.
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To hear the unsaid story is a gift! Your words are evocative.
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very true.
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Thank you 🙂
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Interesting perspective on stories. The real story is tacit, implicit, inside the explicit story being told.
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Yes, the layers of story are endless, and so demand our careful attention, thank you Frank.
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‘Tis the difference between listening with one’s mind, or listening with one’s heart.
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O yes indeed Jill, thank you.
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Nice article👍
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Many thanks Michael 🙂
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reading between the lines can be tricky even for those who know each other well … too open to interpretation
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Yes, I agree wholeheartedly, well said Kate.
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I just met an artist who has the last name Carrier and he speaks in code… like this poem suggests! Brilliant!
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Listening is the true art of hearing the real story… not the story being told.
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Yes, and sadly too many times we don’t listen deeply enough.
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I had the experience today of realizing that I had not heard the story within the story when I should have. I must have been meant to read your poem a day late.
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Ha, the irony, yes we all do it.
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The unsaid is as important as the said sometimes. (K)
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Very much so, the real life isn’t, a rich mix.
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I understand this type of conversation. I’ll admit that I’ve fallen prey to doing this myself. Sometimes we listen but we don’t at the same time. What someone says penetrates our minds but not our hearts.
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Yes, I find myself in that place too, yes, not our hearts, thank you for your thoughtful reflection on this.
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Great ekphrastic poem. And great poem about the consequences of not remaining present, of not engaging. Reading between the lines I’d say this relationship is doomed.
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Yes, I felt that too, not uncommon as I look around, sadly.
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Very true
>
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Thank you Lyn
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