Sunday, April 05, 2009

If words were arrows

this isn't about anything, not directly anyway. (indirectly it always is, I suppose, since it came from somewhere. Just a writing exercise, following a "poetry prompt" -- if words were ...

If words were arrows,
I would lodge them in your heart,
Seeking to pierce the layers of confusion
That make our tongues so brittle.

If words were water,
I would let them trickle over you
Bringing sweet refreshment,
Wearing holes in stone.

If words were fire,
I would burn away indifference;
Melt your icy coldness,
And fuse our understandings.

If words were seeds,
I would plant them in your arid places
And let their roots run deep,
To dislodge solid stone.

But my words are only vapours,
The helpless shapes of breath
Dispersing into nothingness
With the breeze of your small shrug.

7 comments:

L.L. Barkat said...

This part gave me shivers and made me swallow hard...

helpless shapes of breath
Dispersing into nothingness
With the breeze of your small shrug.


So glad you participated!

kc bob said...

I do wish that words are not arrows.. unfortunately that is exactly what they are.. good reason to speak encouraging words :)

Milly said...

Too True
so good

Warren Baldwin said...

Your words are more than vapours! Every one who read this were moved to think about the power of your words here. They will linger and not filter away.
WB

Anonymous said...

some times it takes time for those helpless vapors of breath to make their way into someones hard heart, with help from God, sometimes we see this happen.

JoAnn said...

wonderful! really spoke to me...your words hit their mark!

Kevin Knox said...

I don't know how many times I've come back to this in my mind, Lynne, and I don't know how many ways it's resonated with how many pains. I've quoted it to people who didn't understand it at all, and to others who were frozen by its power. This poem, along with all 6 of your latest, really, can bring anyone with ears to their knees.

What incredible work.

I would only remember to you that there's an Angel goes to the ends of the 4 winds to collect those helpless, dispersed vapors. And that Angel keeps them as a witness and testimony.

May the Lord continue His work in you. Thank you for sharing it.