One Word

It began with a word.

It is not so much that you chose the word,

But rather you chose each other.

Yours was a word of power and beauty,

a gift that gave your life direction.

In time your word began to mingle with new words.

Some were words of your own discovery,

most were the words of others, words of the world.

One word altered the other, compounding their worth.

Yours became part of the lexicon of life,

bringing awareness to your being.

This marriage of words formed into eloquent phrases of splendor.

Full sentences, flowing with the passion of truth and wisdom.

Your word, no longer unique,

merged into the rhythm of myth and parable.

Guided by the certainty of these writings,

you understood your place in the village of others.

Over time, as you thoughtfully chronicled each living day, 

you discovered that the tales which guided your existence,

no longer had meaning.

That the great compositions of your life were no more

than false stories repeated by unknown poets.

Consecrated with this illumination of place and circumstance,

you sought to struggle your word free.

To bring back the purity of your beginnings.

But the language of one’s life is not so easily discarded.

The origins of so many words are long lost,

or hidden in places forgotten, or never known.

Each story, fable, and myth must be interpreted,

seeking the hidden theme, so much more powerful than the obvious.

For it is there, behind the stated and aware

that your word was securely imprisoned.

So the journey of remembering began.

Wrapping yourself in the power of silence

you sought to discern a narrative known only to you.

Ignoring the voices of those who knew better

what your direction should be,

you became again one with your gift of birth.

Reunited with the clarity so long lost,

you began to speak with your own voice,

to pen your own verse,

to tell your own tale.

To live a life communicated by one word,

a word known only to the person for whom it was written.

                                                                                                                - flc