Subtext

Subtext is an author's craft, right?
We're supposed to be able to take these letters and spaces,
mix them all up
and put them into a magical order that creates far more meaning than any of them had before.

That's saying a lot,
especially when a thing as simple as sarcasm
was an inexplicable concept to me until fairly recently.

My characters are still lecturing me on the topic.
Occasionally, I still miss when they use it,
and at first I'm just staring,
confused and glassy-eyed,
until it finally dawns on me,
and they give me a quick pat on the head for good measure.
They're the experts at subtext here.
I'm just the one fumbling after them,
trying to find the right words to convey exactly what's happening
in the worlds in my head.