Words (Abridged) - Aindre Reece-Sheerin

What then are words to me? they are everything and they are nothing at all;
they are what cut so deep and which heal in an instant’;
they can tread me down and yet lift me up to previously, unimaginable heights.

are Words Mathematical or a form of Weapon? –
gifts that are ours to take, to give and to use freely?
often we hear people say,
‘I give you my Word’ or ‘count on my Word’, ‘my Word is my Bond’.

you sent me words recently and everything that we were about was based upon words.
we relied on the words of the other and believed, even if with some incredulity, the words the other used to share experiences.

I have always been ‘Good with Words’. Yet, now when I most need them,
Words fail me.
How can I possibly express what desperation I feel,
what deep, deep loss I am experiencing; how my arms ache to hold you once more,
to stroke your eyebrow and sing low and soft as you drift off to sleep
or come with me to that place that only you can take me.

would that I could write a sonnet of the greatness of my love,
would that I could lift you up and sing your praises once again and see and feel the magic in your eyes.

yet, what am I doing, right here, right now? I am but using ‘Words’
mere valueless Words - because Words have no currency, they are without honour,
they are without rhythm or rhyme, they cannot speak, they cannot sing, nor can they sign or touch you,
they have no life of their own, they are dependent on you and me.
We are for want of a better Word, their God, we give them life;
they are but scratchings on a piece of manuscript, it is you and I who must give them life

these, ‘Words’ carry within them in their use a huge sense of honour, of responsibility in how we Write them, in how we Send them,
in how we Sing them, in how we Speak them, in the essence of how we communicate using them.

‘Words’ then are my life, my experiences, my poor ability to try even feebly to express how I am feeling;
they are everything to me as long as I have energy and wish to use them;
they own me every bit as much as I own them

Aindre Reece-Sheerin