“How are you?”

three short words
so often spoken

usually directed outward
often asked in passing

but what if, we turned
these words inward?

asking them with warmth
and wholehearted interest:

How are you . . . body of mine?
How are you . . . my heart and feeling life?
How are you . . . my thoughts and mental processes?

and paused and patiently listened . . .

then these three words
could become the opening
to a fine internal conversation

bringing ourselves back
into the here and now