Picture It

 

If a picture is worth more than a thousand words,

What is the worth of a single word alone?

 

Its power fleeting, exhausted from use

Fighting shadows that were never there,

While trying to keep up with the rest of the terms

 

Perhaps the word is lonely,

Staring at the endless phrases around it,

Yet always knowing it will stand alone

 

Or perhaps it is too scared,

Knowing that it can only rely on itself as a statement

Knows that when put with the others,

It will become a question,

Or just another word on a blank page

 

Picture it

 

The words that tumble and spew from our mouths

Are the same words that tear apart countries

 

Maybe a single word holds too much power on its own

So we must pair it to others to make phrases

So much, even ourselves could not explain

 

Its power hidden in its simplicity

And it graces us the gift of expression

 

Yet when we are asked to describe our life in one word:

Impossible

The word catapults through and demolishes ideas,

Erases dreams, and changes futures

A scar of something that was once possible.

 

Maybe using only one word strikes the fear

that we may be too insignificant in our existence

But it is a facade we poison ourselves with.

 

Give the title of a single word

And give it the word its own meaning for yourself

Mend its description and use its power of expression as your own

Shetler its own power to portray meanings no one else dared to

 

Because the pictures you see

Can only be described and expressed in the very words you use

Every day