Monday, December 31, 2007
a few words will do - December 31 musing
-11C/12F, Gusta's nose down, oblivious to a big jack rabbit, white sentinel in the school yard, sniffing where he might have been; calm, light cloud, dusting of snow like yesterday's icing sugar on blueberry pancakes at Nellie's
end of the year, under the wire, on deadline; early, ahead, in front of, before; late, behind, lagging, overdue - these are just a few words - they no more capture a writer's essence than a lab captures a scientist or a camera can capture any experience we view
word-workers, servants of creative process trade on turn of phrase or sharpness of wit or point; a word or two or three, a message conveys meaning or not; branding does this to us in a brilliant age of marketing, merchandising, advertising and, occasionally, communicating; a quick phrase is a quick fix - the right set of words is like crazy glue holding the world together
fewer words do better it seems - right words, fewer words, a single word - the simpler the message, the clearer the meaning - but there are so many e-mails, clippings, papers, newswire items . . they just fly by my eyes, a glint here, snippet there, idea, spark, driver, inspiration - a few words will do; without words the world would literally collapse, fly out of its orbit and gravity would not exist - surely chaos would be the least of the problems in a wordless world; forget language, I'm talkin' no words in any language
words heal wounds, start wars, entertain, inform and describe everything about every thing - building blocks of anything solid or reliable in this life - without them we could not function or communicate or know or do much of anything but eat or sleep or screw; a baby's first word would not exist, an argument's last word would not exist or be needed
"For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice." - T. S. Eliot
a year ends, like a candle left burning after dinner - no one is in the room to see its last flicker, but in the morning it's wick stands ready to be re-lit
Mark Kolke
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... with your voice, teach in order to learn
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