Inadequate Words

Words have their limits

As labels they excel

We pluck them out of the air

Add them to this

And that

Pin them on people

Place

Thing

Noun

Verb

Adverb

Pronoun

However

Things get sticky

When we use them as containers

With which to convey

Empathy

Compassion

Kindness

Love

These things were never intended as words

But acts

They become worn flat

Devoid of meaning

Applied as hash tags

Instead of embodied

When someone dies

We look in the air

Can’t find the words that we need there

Instead

We stand choked

Muffled

Quiet

When we need them the most

They are gone

The words hiding

And we search

Empty fingers grasp

Deep in our heart

Powerful e/motion pushes us into a hug, a gesture an act

Silence

Has more meaning

And the words have flown

Taken to the trees

The fence palings

They line the sides of the roads

As the procession drives past

They are crows

Grasping power lines in their claws

Stuck in our craw

We whisper

“I just can’t find the words”

There’s a reason for that

They don’t matter

Because words have no substance

They’re just chatter

4 thoughts on “Inadequate Words

    • And weapons – Since I’ve been using more of them lately and feeling their lack in certain situations I have begun to be a bit quieter in general – won’t last though I wish it would – nice – the silence 👌

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