‘A Word is Dead’ . . . Emily Dickinson

[  # 95 of My Favourite Short Poems  ]

A Word is Dead

by Emily Dickinson

A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.

I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

One of the shortest poems I know, yet I find it so powerful, so wise.   Words need to be heard, to be read, to be said,  above all perhaps they need to be used.  In its brevity, Emily Dickinson uses them so carefully here and yet prompting further thought with the depth of their meaning.  Words used in a poem do take flight as the reader is led to consider their meaning further.