every single word
we use
every single letter

has appeared before
somewhere
okay, perhaps better

but where do we
draw the line

when we say someone
has "stolen"

when we're talking words
and phrases

who gets the credit
earns the praises

it's even probable
it seems

that phrases one
person dreams

they've never read
elsewhere

yet someone
somewhere out there

in recent time or
days of yore

has used the same
before

Her pursed lips hold back,
An Old Testament of curses,
Unpunctuated
And not arranged in verses.

Another wrong turning,
She dams a Noah's flood of tears,
A pillar of salt,
As she crunches the gears.

Then the offertory prayer:
"Perhaps I should drive?"
I have to walk home,
But at least I'm alive.