Words are powerful,
or so they say.

Words are powerless
when they’re put away.

I am told to place them
neatly
in the draw
and bring them out
when I need to
consign and
tear apart
as part of the game
that’s played
to put everyone
in their place,
in their race,
in their region,
in their religion,
in their gender,
in their age,
in their ability,
in their cage.

Let’s all play the language
game, the language game,
the language game,
let’s all play
the language game so
everything’s in its place,
in its place, yes,
its rightful place.

For when we say it, it is truth,
it is utterance that shapes
the meaning of the world.

Then god said, “Let there be
light, and there was light.”
Speak a word, and it is true,
speak, and it becomes
the universe itself.

Words are powerful,
and surround me
like stones thrown,
that may miss
or bring me down,
but I want to sit with no
words at all and take
away all their power
and be here
inert, laid out waiting
with just this body
and this soul.

 

18/8/2023