You will not remember these words
They will not needle into your head
And stitch themselves inside with thread
These words won’t be your conscience
You will not remember these words
They will not infect your skin
Dilute, diffuse, and swim
Into streams and currents,
Ebbs and flows, allocate and permeate
These words are not a toxin
These words are not pretty
You will not package them
With paper, bows, or ribbon
You will not give them
To your friends as gifts
Print them on a bookmark
Or frame them on the wall
These words are not a token
You won’t find comfort in these words
They won’t wake you sweating
Undress you, make you flush,
Ravish you, break your heart,
Slip away in the dark
You will not miss them when they’re gone
You will not remember these words
You won’t sell them in dark alleys
Or buy them in seedy neighborhoods
You won’t dissolve them on your tongue,
Roll them up in paper,
Or inject them in between your toes
They will not lift you up when you are down
Or drag you down when you get high
These words won't mitigate the wound of being you
You will not touch these words with science or technology
You won’t pin them on your table under light and lens
Dissect them, break their bones in quarters,
Section them, or suck their marrow
You can not augment these words
You will not manipulate these words in politics
Or decorate these words with metals
You won’t discuss them in universities
Print them on your shirt
Chalk them up on sandwich boards
Or quote them in your letters
These words won't bring catharsis
These words won’t be your guiding light,
Muse, or alma mater
You won’t add them to your cannon,
Recite them in cathedrals,
Synagogues, or mosques
These words won’t be your anthem
These words will not birth ideas
Or bring about revolution
These words will not start war
Or bring peace,
Raise the dead or heal the sick
These words won’t walk on water
These words will not affect you, burden you,
Change you, harm you, or better you
These words have no intent
These words have no detail
There is no irony in these words
These words are right
These words are true
These words are absolute
This ink is light and hardly visible
Yet these words do not hint
But you will not remember these words
Because
These
Words
Are not written here.
