She decided to study people
wherever she went,
learn how they did it.
She watched the way
top and bottom lips
joined and parted
in glimpses of teeth and tongue.
She examined eyes,
how they surged
in the trade of words.
No detail escaped her.
Tilt of head,
thrust of jaw,
sweep of hand
might hold the key.
                    
Sometimes they left a gap for her,
drew her in
with a question or two.
Then she was on her own.
Other times she waited for a pause
that never came.
She tried to wedge through.
Her voice lacked heft.
She listened to syllables,
their tone and sequence,
wondered if the words themselves
held the power,
and she only needed to unearth
the right ones.
In the end
she counted words
to cipher the number needed
to say nothing.