For the Love of Lexicon

My Mother taught me how to see through language, paper was rare, iron ink wasn't free so she sold some jewelry for porcelain lettering, and we clapped and sang the alphabet into life our life, our joy, our phonetic rhapsody, the consonants kicked and the syllables scrambled a speedy scrimmage to espirited syntax spell...cat, rat, owl, fowl, star, far, wish and fish... Father's farm imparted the words of work into the grammar of growing up grounded to the earth, to the ethic of honest effort, through labor we are educated and by self motivation edified, we pronounced productivity with pride enunciated achievement with enthusiasm diction being defined by determination, in the forests and furrows form was function the meaning of everything was alive spelled by sunlight and sound definition depended on how action ended, I wanted the source, the roots of communication rudiments in the mud, reason in the breeze, Papa found me spelling God and glory in the dirt and told me that one day I'd build an arch for the alphabet, I asked, how come the British speak and spell differently, Papa said...Son, we're not British, we're Americans now, battle is beginning to breathe amongst our folk, it's time to defend our freedom Noah... battle broke open in 1775, revolution ripped the fabric of colonization, the aftermath availed a new arsenal of rights for a newborn civilization that will not rely on the Past for promise rather, we will move toward a future that favors the flares of freedom, there is only one instrument of intellect that can unite us, the Egnlish language is the linchpin, eclectic and euphonious, capable of encouraging introspection, industry and invention it is the poetry and pragmatism of human potential, I will create the first modern, monolithic dictionary for our nation, a book bound for every home a scripture scribed for earnest scrutiny, thousands upon thousands of words waiting for your eyes to convert them into self empowerment, America, a nation needing no permission to prosper, Bravery, the truest expression of beliefs, Constitution, a framework of motivations establishing identity, Deliverance, to be delivered out of darkness by sacred desire, Enlightenment, uninterrupted understanding of unveiled nature, Freedom, having the ability to determine your destiny, Gamble, to risk something of value for greater value, Honesty, an awareness of incorrupt feelings, Ingenuity, inventive adaptation leading to victory, Justice, the cost of living, Kindness, respecting the feelings of others as if they were your own, Leadership, accepting the price for commitment, Mastery, having total control of your craft, Nuclear, harmony within volatility, Oath, to offer your honor for an ideal, Providence, the guiding intelligence inspiring humanity, Question, an excuse to explore, Redemption, being reborn through the thorns of fault, Sovereignty, existing outside the jurisdiction of others, Trust, a condition in which vulnerability becomes a virtue, Unprecedented, something that has never been done before, Vigilance, being prepared to dominate violators, War, aggressive confrontation that aims to eliminate opposition, Xenophobia, having a distrust of foreign origins, Yearn, to feel the pangs of obsession, Zest, to exhibit an excitement for life - J.A.B. This poem is dedicated to Noah Webster (1758 - 1843), an American icon who labored for 28 years to create the first modern, American English Dictionary consisting of 70, 000 words stimulating and educating the intellects of tens of millions of Americans, unting the people of the United States of America with a shared language that has proven itself to be nothing short of divine...Justin A. Bordner