once words were free
and sprung forth from our breasts fully formed beings
cradling the images of our soul in tremulous ether
from human heart to human heart, in light
a grape-vine was laughter, the sun a mighty god
and their voices resounded in the blood of the earth
we drank their names from a green chalice
and listened to the undulations of the world
but our minds grew greedy
our listening turned naming
sacrificing life for objectivity
a small price to pay for freedom we thought
at first knowledge was a rush
awed and excited we tread
and the beings in the words still spoke
for those that cared to listen
then their power grew irresistible
vainly we tried to harness, regiment them
into tight orderly rows, follow orders and be still
spawned from small desires and thoughts manipulative
yet by losing our listening
we lost our speaking
and the more we tried to force meaning
the more it fled from our grasp
now words are a wasteland
dry and sucked of life
by our need to explain
which has power (to kill)
it is up to us now
to resurrect the silence in which the words speak
and find again their life, which they willingly lay down before us
a cosmic sacrifice to our puny will
ssshhhhhhhh…
can you hear them?
they are singing in the dewdrops
words!
yearning for us
to set them free