Half an Ear

There are those who listen with half an ear—
perhaps half deaf, or waiting to reply
because he’s thinking about his next point
and is indifferent to yours, or she makes
the once-a-year obligatory call
to someone back home that’ll permit her
to say she’s in touch, in the midst of which
she is told Great-uncle Walter just died
and she replies, “So sorry to hear that—
and please tell him that I asked about him.”