O, You Gentle Souls, Do Not Fear Four-Letter Words Poem by Raj Arumugam

O, do not fear
four-letter words;
you need not tremble
at shallow vocabulary
of deep penetrative words


do not quiver
as if there’s a blade
held at your throat
for someone uttered
an indecent despised word


do not bring on hell
because the reverence was broken
by vowels and consonants
that shaped into
an explosive vacuum
of notorious stench words


O, do not fear
four-letter words;
you need not tremble
at shallow vocabulary
of deep penetrative words


if you will
look deep
into your own mind
if you see what
goes on there
then perhaps
you’ll understand
why you recoil
why you quiver
and why you dump them
in the trash can for
filthy dirty words


for a word is a word
and it’s only
one’s thoughts
and common acceptance
that makes words
blue or purple


O, do not fear
four-letter words;
you need not tremble
at shallow vocabulary
of deep penetrative words


no you need not
display the words
at your door
or mansion;
you need not
wear them
like garlands
or like a diamond ring
and surely you need not
fear them
nor need your pulse beat faster
(as when you’re having sex)
simply at the utterance
of outcast four-letter words


O, so my dear gentle
gentle souls,
do not fear
four-letter words;
you need not tremble
at shallow vocabulary
of deep penetrative words