a conversation

I was talking to my mother the other day, trying to get her to open up about something, but she just wouldn't budge, the way she would change the subject, the way she would avoid eye contact, the way she would use humor to deflect, the way she would use silence to shut me down, the way I felt like I was hitting a brick wall, the way I felt like I was getting nowhere, the way I felt like I was losing my patience, the way I was trying to tread carefully, the way I was trying not to push too hard, the way I was trying to respect her boundaries, the way I was trying to understand, the way I was trying to see things from her perspective, the way the conversation seemed to be going in circles, the way we seemed to be talking around the issue, the way we seemed to be avoiding the truth, the way the silence seemed to be growing thicker, the way the air seemed to be thickening, the way I felt like I was drowning in the silence.