Words Are To Writers

Words are to writers like flowers to bees, 
Oil to engines and thank you to please. 
They may be as heavy as concrete or lead 
Or light as feather and thoughts in our heads. 

They may cut like a knife and bite like a snake,
Or purr like a kitten and calm all our aches.
Letters combined in word perfect tense
Lift humanity higher like pauper to prince. 

Words are like paint before canvas lay bare
In the hands of the artist, eternity’s there.
Waiting to brush one more story-book tale
From right of nowhere, words take to sail. 

With wind from the writer and ink from the pen, 
Destinies change for women and men. 
From The Iliad and Odyssey to Paine’s Common Sense,
Plato’s Apology to Shelley’s Poetic Defense. 

From Genesis to Leviticus and Matthew to St. John,
Aristotle’s Ethics to White’s Trumpet of the Swan.   
From the US Constitution to King’s “I Have a Dream,”
Words are to writers as air is to breath.

They transcend human consciousness
And send us well past Mars, 
Making movies, plays and music move us
To the moon and stars.    

The possibilities are limitless 
When words are focused clear;
If one merely stops to think it through:
They’re always waiting near.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2014

Poem

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Lowe Avatar
April 14, 2025 at 4:16 PM
WORD UP, my brother! WORD UP, Terry!: W ords O f R eality D ivine From the Cistern there of; One. Peace and Love.
Bauer Avatar
November 14, 2014 at 3:37 PM
you have some amazing lines here and have said this so well! i think all of us on this site can appreciate this one - i know that i do very much...
Martin Avatar
November 14, 2014 at 5:58 PM
Thank you Ilene and it's very good to hear from you again! I've been away for awhile and trying to re-connect with my (and others) poetry again. I owe you a visit soon. Glad you enjoyed this one and hope all is well with you and yours:) Terry
Gifford Avatar
November 14, 2014 at 8:41 AM
I love words, and you put them all together in an imaginative and wonderful way. I've never heard it expressed better! And I love how you closed with that last stanza wrapping it up nicely and tying it with a bow, like a gift you give to those who read your poem. A 7 and a sav from me.
Gifford Avatar
November 14, 2014 at 9:53 PM
The some other part , undefined, in my mind is, of course, God!
Martin Avatar
November 14, 2014 at 6:06 PM
WOW! That's quite a lovely description you wrote concerning my poem. It REALLY means the world to me even though I truly believe that poetry (like other forms or art) is 1 part our own imagination and 1 part some other (as yet undefined) external assistance. None the less, "thank you" does not nearly convey my heartfelt appreciation for your thoughts. Cheers, Terry
Nunez Avatar
November 13, 2014 at 8:16 PM
This one is a piece, I'd have been proud to create...Just lovely Terrell. More from you, please. 7 for me too. New friend Kim.
Martin Avatar
November 14, 2014 at 6:07 PM
Thank you as well Kim. You're a "Peach" for your kind comments. Owe you another visit soon. All the best fellow poet... Terry
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