Do they catch their hands
muttering sometimes
when they’re not signing, their fingers
           whispering to each other
           or trying to tell whoever
           that might be at the other end
of an arm what they’ve forgotten
and must remember? Do they
hesitate to go on saying
           what they won’t have the slightest
           chance of meaning tomorrow?
           Do slips of the fingers count
against them? Do they practice
sleights of hand? Do they slur
under the influence
           of second thoughts or do battle
           almost helplessly
           with those quicker to reach
conclusions, with interrupters,
with careless, heavy thinkers,
with ambiguous partners
          or strangers? It must be easy
          to babble or go crazy
          without half trying, but how
can lovers hold hands
unless they mean to go
quietly all the way?