“Incomplete Sentences” by C. S. Hull

Incomplete Sentences

by C. S. Hull

When my grandmother
was asked why she can’t complete
a sentence
before going onto
the next – continuously
confusing her listener –
she considered for a moment
before responding:
that she thought too fast –
she thought too fast
and by the time the words were
free, had flown from
her mouth and lingered
long enough to be heard,
that she was bored by them.
Her dialogue was
in effect old news,
and she was ready for the next
morsel of information
as it was ripening in
her mind. The pathway,
the expressway from thought
which moved at the speed of light,
bottlenecked
in its conversion to sound.
Consequently her listeners
could never enjoy the velocity
of her internal brainstorm
and were never privy
to a fully realized
sentence.

C. S. Hall’s Incomplete Sentences will be published in our Spring 2013 issue.

Copyright © C. S. Hull

2 thoughts on ““Incomplete Sentences” by C. S. Hull

  1. Loved this! Richard used to predict the “bottlenecks” so well.
    (side bar…”we’re on a new topic” or she meant huddled masses yearning
    to breathe free not rumpled masses.”) My all time favorite. ” She’s left that
    dog in the dust and is now debating garden statuary” Richard said.. it took 61 years, but I’m fast.. Sometimes I guess love is faster than the speed of sound. Bravo, Cec

  2. Its endearing how the author acknowledged the beauty of his Grandmother’s mind. How he understood the thoughts that came to her, but the speed of her brain moved way too fast to connect to the normal velocity of a conversation. Sometimes intelligence moves at the speed of light, and if you can’t except it for what it is you will just miss it all together. The choice of words and flow of the poem illustrated an interesting characteristic.

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