Words: A Series of Poems

We — poets, novelists, journalists, human beings, etc — use the 26 letters of the alphabet to form the most incredible words.

Only 26 letters to create the most astounding things we will ever hear, see, or write in our lifetimes. I don’t know about you, but I find that idea to be quite empowering and profound, yet also very daunting.

As a poet myself, I’m often asked why I love writing so much, and, generally, I’ve found it quite arduous to come up with a response that is adequate. In plain words, I really can’t tell you why I love language, or why it makes me feel the things I feel. So, instead of just using regular words, I’ve decided to use poems composed of those 26 letters in an attempt to express my passion as well as reach out to those who feel the same.

Words (No.1)

I can see my words

They dance across my vision,

Creating mirages of inspiration.

I reach for them.

I desire to seize them by their tail ends,

And have them dangle along my arms,

My legs, my head, hair, feet, nose, body —

Everything.

I want my words to coat the floor I walk upon.

I want my words to find themselves entangled

With hymns and the laughter of children.

I want my words to fill every blank space,

Find every inch of nothingness

And make it whole.

But most of all,

I want my words to wrap themselves

Around your heart

So that will them,

I might make you understand

Everything you are to me.

Words (No. 2)

There are words on my fingers —

Thick like honey.

I cannot clean them —

Cannot wipe or flick them off.

They must ooze into my pen —

They must meld with the ink —

They must be written.

Words (No. 3)

Even if I could find the words

To describe

The feelings of epic proportion

I get

Whenever I so much as think

About you,

I still wouldn’t use them.

I wouldn’t use them

Because I think you’re worth so much more than

Smeared ink

Strewn across crumbling paper.

Well, shit,

You’re worth more than the whole

Goddamned sun

In my opinion.

Words (No. 4)

The sidewalk that lies

Underneath my feet says,

“some words last longer

than the breath that carries them”

And I find myself distracted

As we walk downtown.

I sip my drink and think

Of how this macchiato

Tastes like mornings spent

In my sister’s mint apartment.

But the sun is shining down

Like Apollo’s great fists

And I see that my ice cubes

Are starting to melt.

But your skirt is blue today

And the way it mimics

The nightmares of sailors

As it tumbles through the wind

Reminds me that I hate January.

So although I feel my shirt

Sticking to my back,

And although my iced coffee

Is now mostly water,

I turn my face up to the sky

And thank it

For days like this one.

We’ve veered off course slightly

So I look forward once more

Just in time to save myself

From skydiving off the curb

As a car skids past.

And it rustles some flowers

And I smile because the generated wind

Sends my hair into a frenzy of tangles

That tickle my chin.

And as we round the corner

I find myself tripping

Over familiar pavement stating,

“some words last longer

than the breath that carries them”

And the words I read

On the sidewalk below

Are not the words I hear

Coming out of your mouth

And I’m sorry that

I didn’t hear a word you just said.

Words (No. 5)

If only the heavens

Rained upon us

The Mighty Black Ink.

Then we could make love

Across the lurid, boundless puddles.

Our bodies creating

Poems so aching,

The only eyes worthy of them

Would belong

To the gods.