Sweet Talking Sour Nothings

Silver tongues, hollow hearts

Photo by Anderson Rian on Unsplash

If language is the root that connect us, what should we do when its fruit is disconnection?

From wishful thinking in the interpretation of a text message to desperate calls of help to technology, this collection examines the sophisticated ways we can be undone by words. It's about discovering when miscommunication was actually masterful manipulation, and when you lost the battle with language.

Sometimes, no matter how fluently we communicate, some feelings simply have no translation.

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Tell me

Tell me,
was it the autocorrect?
did it correct "love" to "over",
or was your text designed to...
kill me?

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(In)Proper spelling

Positively, you proved,
though proper spelling
of the word "lust"
requires "us";
your lip mastery stuns,
through crafty spelling
of the word "lust"
you oust me…

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Languages of love

Darling, I know.
There are five languages of love
and you speak them fluently.

Darling, how strange,
you chose to practice them all
with others instead of me.

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Help me Duolingo

Their bodies would
fluently speak the same language.
Their feelings though,
no tenían traducción.

---

The cruelest discovery isn't that someone doesn't love you—it's realizing they know exactly how to make you believe they do. These poems don't offer easy solutions to the language barriers we face in love, but they do offer recognition: the sharp clarity that comes from finally understanding when miscommunication was actually manipulation, and when even technology can't save us from the untranslatable nature of heartbreak.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these pieces. Have you ever experienced that moment when sweet words revealed themselves to be carefully crafted emptiness? Or found yourself desperately searching for translation when feelings simply had no words in any language?

Thank you for navigating these darker linguistic territories with me. If you're curious about the creative process behind these poems, I've written about my approach to writing and collaboration here:

AI Writing: Enhancing your voice, not replacing it.

In my profile you’ll also find short stories and the occasional journal entry giving insight into who I am and what inspires me to write, feel free to explore it.

And if you want to read more poetry, here’s my previous collection:

Ephemeral Kisses, Eternal Embraces

Oh, and what does the ending to “Help me Duolingo” mean? Well, those last two lines in English would read like this:

Their feelings though,
had no translation.

And now you know 😉.