a silent beat before answering a question

As soon as he sits down I can tell I want to.
How long can I sit here not doing the thing
I want to do. All the youngish men
all the etceteras of desire, etcetera.
There's a little hole in my boot.
Could you put your finger in it?
There is power in breathing.
There is power in a silent beat
before answering a question, in a leaning in.
Across the table his mind right there
behind his talking face.

[Deborah Landau, from "All Else Fails" in The Last Usable Hour]