The Alphabet

Words . . .
shout and speak,
sing and suggest,
they reflect and ruminate,
romance and regale,
they meditate and memorize,
they mumble and mortify,
Present . . .
Prolonged . . .
Deafening

Voices . . .
speak at you and to you,
around you and through you,
with you and without you,
among you and about you,
behind you and before you,
be for you and against you,
Upward?
Downward?
Followthroughward?

Words . . .
Shapes + and SiZeS
Sounds #@* and syll'a'bles
Stop.ping and start. . .ing
Sinking ^and surfing <<< >>>>staying (:)
Sailing ~ and sweeping ~
Swaying and semanticizing
Sweet . . .
Sour . . .
Sugary . . .

Words . . .
Poets and prophets,
penpals and protagonoists,
Writers and recorders,
Editors and edifiers,
Capturing, considering, coaxing,
Criticizing, criminalizing, condemning,
Building . . .
Breaking . . .
Boastful . . .

Words . . .
a simple thought,
an emotion,
Gratitude,
the right word, ,
the rime, the rhythm,
the sonorous segregated
Babble .
Chatter . . .
Cackle . . .

Words . . .
renounced, reiterated, recoiled
in stanzas and on shelves,
in volumns of verses of vernacular,
on bookshelves and in bibliographies,
in records and recordings,
on lips and in libraries
on documents and in dialog.
Felt . . .
Heard . . .
Moved. . .

Words . . .
I sit. I write.
A card. A note. A sentiment. An expression.
"Words are all I have?"
Thank you?
From my heart . . . A lump in my throat . . .
Never enough paper or ink . . .
Words . . .
Words . . .
Words . . .