I Can Talk Poem by Nim Lee

I can talk
But no one can listen to me.
Where is an ear that wants to hear my words?
Does anyone want to listen to anyone else?
Or do we, at best, sit smiling, waiting for our turn to speak
At worst, shout down the others and bellow and rant
Heard if not listened to.

For the waiting game does not work.
Life is not a game
Or if it is, I don’t know the rules.
My turn will never come
Unless I make it happen.
And to be able to do this, I have to have
……………. Something.
I don’t know what.