Let Them Rollick

Still another poem about writing, another piece of evidence attesting to my quest ... not to present myself as an expert on the subject ... I'm not ... but to come nearer to an understanding of the mystery of writing.

And it is a mystery.

I often sit down to write a random thought or two, but I seldom know where this is going to lead. I almost never know the ending when I begin. That reveals itself as I permit myself to be led by the words ... "these hungry words," if you will.

Indeed, I like to let them sit at the table of my understanding, and I listen carefully to what they have to say.

Speaking of listening, try reading this one aloud ... no audience required ... simply read it to yourself again. I think it's a poem that begs to be read aloud ... or at least given another silent reading, but with an ear to the repeated sounds.

I liked the sound of it when it first offered itself to me. I liked it through several revisions. I hope you'll find something in it to like now:

LET THEM ROLLICK

Please don't let these

words just lie there,

losing their body warmth

to an indifference

that deepens like dust.

Let them roam the range

of your experience,

wander the gentle slopes

of meaning, become

attuned to music that

echoes from your past,

let them have rein

to gallop toward sense.

Please let these hungry

words sit at the table

of your understanding,

let them traverse

your tongue, gather

speed and light, and

rollick, really rollick.

© 2002

(originally published in Capper's)

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Today's word: rollick

(P.S. - Another installment of "Squiggles and Giggles" has been posted and ... if you have a moment or two ... there's a link on the left)