- Just Plain Words –

By John Herlihy

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Just plain words, oh what words.

They gather like a flock of birds,

They just pour forth into the light,

Oh, how they make day of night.

Words that come back to haunt,

Words that come back to taunt.

Words to sparkle as winter light,

Words paint darkly the sad night.

From words, life has been made,

Words became tools of my trade.

Words veiled in smoke and mist,

Words that beam as if first kissed.

An infant baby’s cry my first word,

My final word has yet to be heard.

I chuckle now to myself as I think,

Words saved me from the brink.

Sad and happy words to mutter,

Shy and fearful words to stutter.

From my mind, words life bring,

From my heart, words that sing.

To mark the passing of the hour,

To paint rich colors into a flower.

Whether ugly, angry, despairing,

Words soothe the soul, repairing.

Words he will never remember

Words that he will never forget

They hand down as broken reeds,

They fill the garden as life seeds.

Reflective words that fill my days,

Bitter words that have their ways.

Words to fill a fleeing comet’s tail,

Words with wind to fill a white sail.

Words are my gift and what a gift,

They fill my heart, my soul to uplift.

Words make something of nothing,

See truth and beauty in everything.

Unspoken words do fill my dreams,

To trace poems on clouds it seems.

As if my mind were made of brass,

The words shining as broken glass.

See a sad mouth, a cautious smile,

Words soften images with a fine file.

Noble words my true home country,

The outside world a foreign country.

To see with words from the inside,

My heart to expose, nothing to hide.

Words that make us heartily laugh,

Words that slice us quickly in half.

Words float and pop as soap bubbles,

Words describe our deepest troubles.

Words begin as thoughts in my head,

To echo back as organ peels instead.

The chime of bells, the chatter of birds,

What a cornucopia of just plain words.

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(c) John Herlihy November 2018