New Poem – You Have One Message

People who love poetry and theater and books are people who love words. We romanticize words, actually, gradually convincing ourselves that words can change the world.

And words can change the world. They just do it very slowly.

We word people and book people can talk a good game. But sometimes we have to admit that words are sometimes too slow and too weak to do much in the short term.

And maybe that’s the point. In the short term, I shouldn’t expect to win. And my life is entirely short term.

You Have One Message

Every mystery begins with a crime.
Often someone dies, and human wisdom
seems a thin foundation to build on.
Readers excavate beneath the words
looking for life and being in the dark places
until the words become strange above us.
There is a rumor going around
that stories are taking arms
against each other. Books have mass
and gravity until we orbit them,
following their bend in space and time.
There is conflict and conflict and there
is conflict until some hero here brings
together every strand and subplot.
Readers take sides and characters take
a stand, tugging us along through
more conflict. The world does not get
better through words but through power.
It is not hard to be human. “Do justice.
Love mercy. Walk humbly,” say the words
and underneath the words, worms
till the soil, eating their way
through the earth and all that is in it.

Photo by Krissy and Dennis who make cool handmade journals on etsy. Used under creative commons.