Adjust Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

“You tolerate, I don’t
And that is the difference”, says she.
“Because after nine or ten times, your tolerance
Bursts its limits, and you lose temper
Shout and say hurting things,
Make me hot, angry and impatient
Because this letting go
Is out of all proportion
To the event or provocation causing it,
Whereas I don’t tolerate and keep quiet;
If I don’t agree, I don’t quietly,
Stomach or ignore it; I speak out
To whoever, wherever, it does not matter.
I don’t allow my blood pressure to build up:
And if finally I cant change it,
Then having let out steam, I adjust
Myself to that situation or person:
I take it as part of normal life.”

I hear this, and keep quiet - tolerate!
Is there really a life independent,
For words? I can use different words
But can we equate one word to what I do (tolerate) ,
And another to what she does or means (adjust)
Neatly, and be satisfied
That entire reality has been captured there?

If each word stands for specific activity clean,
I don’t think it does, but if it does,
I want to transit from tolerate to adjust:
I wish I knew how to do it.