Unused, But Perfectly Good Words Poem by David Whalen

Lonely words, in need of some usage
Perfectly good, yet almost unknown
Let’s take a quick look in my dictionary book
Let’s not leave these words all alone

For example, under A: The word “Abscission”

It’s quite usual to say “leaves fall from the trees”
But we could also say, with utmost precision
We could use a word that we very rarely see
When we say “leaves fall from trees in abscission”

That’s probably the first time… in quite a long time
That word, that means “the natural parting of a leaf from a tree”
That that word, has now… seen the light of day
could become quite common, if used by you and me

I can just hear people exclaiming, as they peer up above
As the fall’s colors fill their vision
“We’re amazed, we’re agog, we’re simply in love
At the trees…in the Fall… in abscission”

We can do it, you and I, we can set this word free
But in our mission, must not show indecision! ! !
We must casually let it drop, in daily conservation, you and me
And this Fall will become filled with “abscission”