Fat Glistening in the Gears

Fat Glistening in the Teeth of the Gears

You taught me to navigate each human
Interaction as if it was transaction.
You put me through your proofs;
Each conversation an equation towards
Some hidden lie or truth, some take or give.
I was trained in bargaining to live, each next
Word a weight on either side of the scale,
Scan, parse and exegize, and then sieve and
Memorize each imagined sin and when it gets
Too painful toss it back into the bin. What she
Said, what she thought, the distance in between,
You fill with your doubt, your fretting fears, and
Worry at the edges of what does this all mean.