Spoken

April 25 2012

I realized the power of words

when I wrote them down

spoke out loud.

Its cold reptilian neck

pressing in from behind, nuzzling mine.

Its fetid breath,

its heaviness.

The sound took to the air,

carried less

than I could throw

in a voice that almost broke.

A brief unnoticed vibration,

smothered

by the weight of air.

Please, do not mistake this

for confession

or forgiveness.

I doubt anyone was even listening.

But it had been spoken,

a formal statement

unequivocal.

As if a sworn witness
weighed in,

and the court stenographer

made it permanent

a judge, somewhere, had heard.

And what could be more visceral

than passing throat, tongue, lips,

the dark intimacy of the mouth

the swallow
the kiss?

Or a hand-written letter

that may never be read.

The nullifying power

to have simply expressed.

Because bloodless words

are harmless,

disarmed by the light of day.

There, I said it.

Now go away.