Words Give Life Its Wings

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Tell me what you now remember
of what you said just last December
in one ear and out the other
can’t recall
cannot bother
it’s not uncommon
soon forgotten

But that’s now past
sorry I asked
for words will come
and words will go
they may not last
may lose their meaning
become unclean
become what they
weren’t meant to mean

Stay with the thought
you really ought
forever let them
ebb and flow
come to me
and let them go
for that they do
they wax and wane
they come again
often prone to outlive their stay
maybe then to fade away

Yes
hold that thought
and let it thrive
forever may it stay alive
it came to me in just a flash
even those pure balderdash
may be remembered
some dismembered
some misbegotten
others forgotten

But do not fear
lend me your ear
‘cos, right or wrong
words do live on
in speech and song
alive or lost
twisted and tossed
such living things
give life its wings

On Spring’s Approach

Bring me the head of a daffodil in bloom
Or a buttercup’s yellow gold.
For Spring begins once more
And I am old.
My tears are wept,
I need redress for promises kept.

Show me the butterfly
As it darts and flutters by,
While beneath its breath it sings,
And with burgeoning wings,
Greets the new day’s warmth.

Celebrate the zigzagging bees
Attending each welcoming flower;
Keeping time with the breeze
And gathering nectar
To store in their bower.

For vibrant Spring is on its way,
Rebuilding now its vernal bouquet
Of warmth and renewal,
Pursuing its promise with every day.

Words as Birds

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as do birds
words fly

fluttering
hovering
singing
warbling

dull or exotic
cumbersome or succinct
tender or abrupt
yet so high
their sky

carrying
with their wings aflame
both sonority and meaning
their tone surging
from plangent to plaintive
from joyous to rhapsodic

gliding in grace
with forethought and intention
swooping with wit
dipping their wingtips
in pools of light
or in puddles of mud

careless words
trailing doubt
words with a conscience
trilling
swooping
in the summer sun
skimming the surface of reason
dipping to their trees
to rest
to roost
when evening is done

nesting with the need for growth
mating when the time is ripe
breeding as the notion is defined
fledging offspring true to type
nurturing meaning under their wing

always bearing
cushioned within their feathered breasts
for those who care to discover
their true strength
wings beating to pronounce
their significance
the revelation of their truth
the essence of their existence

 

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William Blake … 1757-1827

‘Caged Beauty’ … Pen&Ink – WHB – 1981

FROM: ‘ Auguries of Innocence’

BY . . . William Blake

 

“ . . . A Robin Redbreast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
A dove house fill’d with doves and pigeons
Shudders Hell thro’ all its regions.
A Dog starv’d at his Master’s Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State.
A Horse misus’d upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fiber from the Brain does tear . . . ”

 

FROM: ‘ Proverbs of Hell’

BY . . . William Blake

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… All wholesome food is caught without a net or a trap
Bring out number, weight & measure in a year of dearth.
No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.
A dead body revenges not injuries …

William Blake … Poet & Artist  … 1757-1827