body language
not knowing their words
I read people better
their actions and attitudes
all I can gauge
in a moment
I have taken their pulse
intelligible words
pouring out of a mouth
distract from the telling
twitch of the lips
clarity of gaze
steadiness of hand
that simmer to make
savoriness of character
in English we dismissively say
intuition
gut feeling
impression
as if it’s misleading
at best a guess
not the sum total
of generations of watching
what people do
when not telling the truth
