Tuesday, May 13, 2014

The Power of Words



May 12: Three Gifts Held in the Hand Today

1. My pen
2. A basketball
3. Warm laundry fresh out of the dryer

A pen in the hand is a powerful thing. I click my gel pen open and excitedly think about all that can come from this simple black ink. With it, I can doodle a small creature into creation, or make the emotions inside bleed through black blood onto the page. As I read more of Flora and Ulysses, I contemplate the power behind words. The squirrel, the poetry writing, super-powered flying squirrel hears the word ‘home’ and thinks that it is a good word. He adds it to the list of words he wants to make into a poem. I pause and think about that; what if I made a list of words that I wanted to make into a poem? The word ‘home’ wraps around my soul like a warm blanket. To it, two other words float into my consciousness.

                Home                                    Love                                      …Good-bye

When I whisper the word ‘good-bye’ I listen to the sound of it. It sounds as if the word breaks in two, a very sad word. In the afternoon, quite fed up with emotions and poetical thinking, I run outside into the chilly wet air to shoot some hoops. With our new basketball hoop put up in our drive way, I can run out and make a few shots whenever I feel like I need a break from my mind. Before, I had to walk fifteen minutes down to the park, which seemed not worth the effort when all I wanted to do was shoot a couple hoops then head back home. The ball ricochets off the rim and hurtles back towards me at double the speed I had thrown it. The feeling of stopping the force of the ball with my two hands is satisfying; seeing it spin on the tip of my finger is also extremely satisfying. Swish! The ball slides through the net and I am thankful for the escape sports provide from emotions. Running back indoors, fingers numb, the dryer beeps as I come down the hallway. Quickly I stop in my laundry room and pull out the dried clothes. The warmth that washes over me from the open door, and the warm clothes hugged in my arms feels delicious.


No comments:

Post a Comment