Words

 Words

 

There are words here:

lengthy, brief,

antiquated, modern,

enunciated, mispronounced, 

abbreviated, lengthened,

extended, contracted,

drawled or clipped:

their very sounds add to their meaning.

Backyard slang, drawing room formality,

with or without gesture for explication.

Communication in evolved or primitive form,

face to face and meaningful.

 

What wonders words are!

Gathered in clouds around us all,

a world of choices to speak,

to write, to imagine...

Be silent a moment, though,

and listen...

There are poets here

and they have ways with words.

Dandelions

 

 

Concrete cracks and median strips,

slivers of dirt between crumbling bricks:

anywhere a seed can blow, can land, anywhere it can squeeze a thread of root

in its search for sustenance.

That’s where a dandelion grows.

 

And somehow, it thrives.

It sprouts a ragged crown of green;

it sports a hollow stem, 

and issues forth a sunshine flower

beloved of children, creating

grubby bouquets in a water glass.

 

It’s a lot like hope: 

hope that sees the possibility,

the potential in a tiny crack,

that needs only a drop of water,

a teaspoon of soil,

and faith in the power of sunshine.

 

And with that shred of hope,

a sunny flower becomes

a star-shower of seeds

whose boundaries are the wind,

who travel farther than imagination,

who transcend expectations and grow.

 

We should all be dandelions.