Saturday, May 8, 2010

Warning

Don't say that word.
Don't say it.
Don't name that thing,
that implement, that
item of every day use.
Words have power.
They sharpen desire.
They slash at restraint.
Don't feed the danger.
Don't say its name.

Don't say that word.
Don't say it.
Don't name that force,
that juice that can run
toasters and fill you with pain.
Words have power.
They swallow intentions.
They weaken control.
Don't feed the danger.
Don't say its name.

Don't say that word.
Don't say it.
Don't name the beast,
that dark monster that
once loosed can never be caged.
Words have power.
They turn the room to red.
They transform the soul.
Don't feed the danger.
Don't say its name.

Don't.
Just don't.

5 comments:

nbs said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
nbs said...

Words can be so very dangerous~ my mouth is closed!

Luna Mauvaise said...

I know its name and its pain.

Paul said...

OG, I don't know the word, perhaps you would whisper it to me.
Nice dear girl.
Love and warm hugs,
Paul.

oatmeal girl said...

Dear readers - I wrote this poem for myself, as an expression of my own emotions and frustrations, and posted it here because I couldn't send it elsewhere. I didn't mean it as a guessing game. However, you are all going off in the wrong direction, so I do feel the need to tell you at least that much.

Although maybe there is no wrong direction. I remember hearing the poet Donald Hall say how he loved reading critics on his poems so that he could learn what he had done. Especially in our early days, my demon muse would compliment me on how I had used this and that technique and I'd say Oh? I didn't realize that!

So I take it back. You're not getting it wrong. You're just not getting what I consciously meant. "The word" is not love, although it seems that everything I write is ultimately about love.

Hear what you do. Hear what you will. Hear what you must. But know that my conscious intention was a separate subject for each verse.

o.g.