This poem is in response to Friday Fictioneers‘ lovely photo-prompt by Jeff Arnold. Hope everyone is getting lots of writing and reading done, or at least enjoying one of the many film adaptations and musical lyric recordings which each, inevitably, began with one word. Thanks for stopping by to read, when you have so many other things on your mind!
Everything starts with a word.
Every word starts with a butt on a chair,
Ignoring the present, the coffee, the wine
(Well, maybe, just taking a sip of that wine)
And transporting off
In a vaporous fluff
Of words, unhearable words.
From ancient stylus and wax,
To the quill, overflowing
With quibbles and quarrels,
To clackity QWERTY, brooking no errors,
To harmonic hum-drumming screens;
We cannot but relish the charm
Of a chanted disappearing spell,
To take us away
From that horror: Today.
Whether moving or still,
On a page, in our ear—
Everything starts with a word.
Copyright 2020 Andrea LeDew
For more thoughts on words, and the edifices we create to house them, read The Realm of Word Gone By. For a different system of symbology, read Figureheads.
Believe it or not, vowels didn’t come about until relatively late. People got sick and tired, after a while, of having to figure out all that mumbling
Interesting! Thanks Larry! P
You convey the wondrous power of words so well, Andrea!
Thanks Brenda!
Thank you!
Let us hope these skills are enough to get us to our new normal, wherever that may be! Thanks Mike!
Love the truth in this poem. Well penned.
Thank you Susan!
Lovely poem! Now to find that one word to start me off…
Good luck draliman!
Lovely poem, Andrea and with a great message.
Thanks Michael. We must not forget that the words we choose can make all the difference. Proved many times over in our current crisis!
What an absolutely lovely poem, Andrea. Truly enjoyed this.
Thank you Dale. Definitely had my tribe here in mind, writing this. 😊
Yes, yes, yes, to being in love with words!
They certainly are fundamental to our experience. Though there is such a thing as having too many words. Thanks Liz.
This is true. Words can overwhelm at times.
If I’m stuck, the word that comes to mind is dictionary! Close eyes, open book, point. open eyes and bingo!
Here’s mine!
Sounds like a great idea!
Well, thanks! You’re one of the ONLY people I know who gives me permission to sit in a chair all day 🙂
Only because I’m hoping to get permission as well! Never was great at thinking on my feet, anyway…😊
Thinking on my seat has always been my preference 🙂 You have my permission!
I found your poem inspiring. I need bum in chair!
One snippet of advice from my father in law helped my husband get through college: you dont just need classtime, you need a**time. Good advice in any endeavor, though I fear many of us spend too much time in that position! 😊
Problem is our computers/tables are also toys. And yes most of us need to move more. 😀
True. The line is blurred between work and play these days! Thanks Tannille!
The best way to start a masterpiece is with the first word. Enjoyed this.
Thanks Sandra!
Dear Andrea,
Love the use of words in this eloquent poem. The old rhyme “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” is false. Words leave the deepest scars. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
And sometimes we can survive the sticks and stones! Sometimes words strike fear in our hearts. Like a kindergartener struggling to read who fears the consonant-vowel-consonant of a word like cat, we too quake at the merest CV.
I’ve so often had that thought about hateful words. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will destroy me.
Well-done!
Thanks msj!
You’re welcome, Andrea.
Everything starts with a word! Beautifully done, Andrea.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
True indeed! I try to remember that when starting a new project. It can look daunting, but one word leads to another, leads to a sentence, leads to a paragraph…
Yes indeed! And I think one thing we forget, in our video-centric world, is that every movie , every song, every speech had to be written down by somebody.
Loved the rhythm of this, and the inherent truth
Thanks CE!
Thank you Lynn! You put it so well.
Doesn’t she always!
What a lovely poem! And you’re so right – words are the keys, the entry points to other worlds, other people, ways of living. Magic and miracles lie in those words. Lovely sentiment
Finding that right one word at the start is often the hardest part.
So true, Iain!
Miraculous things words. I’m glad our ancerstors invented them
Me too, Neil!