WORDS
Words
worry me
how many
did I use today?
Words
they frighten me
how many were necessary?
it seems to me
most didn’t do their duty
to what purpose
to whom
to what end
said to an imagined enemy
or a true friend?
I must pause
to think
before I sink
to the abyss of the inane
where words fester and stink
I must forget
unwanted words
delete many
from my unedifying vocabulary
others I shouldn’t blame
though I know deeply
in my heart
I was taught to use
the uncomely
the meaningless words
words that self-glorified
sugar-coated which would but
diminish me
reduce me
to absurdity
words that hate
that hurt
that maim
that cause pain
and suffering
that but serve
my selfish aim
(now regret comes too late)
I should not be
in the company
of some many
so-called teachers
I must break myself free
from the word-killers
the word-profaners
the word-defilers
the language nihilists
who seek to destroy
beauty and decency
for their vainglory
how would I sleep tonight
counting the number
of inhumane and worthless words
I spoke today?
so often I wished
I were dumb
to be cleansed
by silence
to be still
to be liberated
from the pollution
that has infected
my better self
for so long
so surreptitiously
without my knowing
it’s past midnight now
how calm are the stars and the moon
in their eternal silence
they speak so much to me
and make such wondrous company
when I wake tomorrow
would I be a new man
one who has turned his back
on the past
that has irked and misused me?
the sage Lao-Tze in the sixth century BC wrote:
he who knows does not speak
he who speaks does not know.
and that’ s all I need to know.
Sep 8, 2015
Sep 8, 2015 at 9:45 PM UTC
WORDS
Words
worry me
how many
did I use today?
Words
they frighten me
how many were necessary?
it seems to me
most didn’t do their duty
to what purpose
to whom
to what end
said to an imagined enemy
or a true friend?
I must pause
to think
before I sink
to the abyss of the inane
where words fester and stink
I must forget
unwanted words
delete many
from my unedifying vocabulary
others I shouldn’t blame
though I know deeply
in my heart
I was taught to use
the uncomely
the meaningless words
words that self-glorified
sugar-coated which would but
diminish me
reduce me
to absurdity
words that hate
that hurt
that maim
that cause pain
and suffering
that but serve
my selfish aim
(now regret comes too late)
I should not be
in the company
of some many
so-called teachers
I must break myself free
from the word-killers
the word-profaners
the word-defilers
the language nihilists
who seek to destroy
beauty and decency
for their vainglory
how would I sleep tonight
counting the number
of inhumane and worthless words
I spoke today?
so often I wished
I were dumb
to be cleansed
by silence
to be still
to be liberated
from the pollution
that has infected
my better self
for so long
so surreptitiously
without my knowing
it’s past midnight now
how calm are the stars and the moon
in their eternal silence
they speak so much to me
and make such wondrous company
when I wake tomorrow
would I be a new man
one who has turned his back
on the past
that has irked and misused me?
the sage Lao-Tze in the sixth century BC wrote:
he who knows does not speak
he who speaks does not know.
and that’ s all I need to know.
--