The Tongue. Poem by Adrian Wait

Thoughtless words of careless youth
Scattered with casual flourish
Words that cut, words that hurt
Ill-thought out, mean, careless words
Wise in my own eyes, what clowns!
Give voice to frustration, longing, hate
Words like arrows fired
Premeditated words to penetrate
Cannot be recalled, be unspoken
Words fill our universe
Unstable rider of our tongues
Failing to listen …we remain unheard.

Hyperbole, hypocrisy
Fill the silence of ignorance
I am the uneasy rider of my tongue
I say things right …I say things wrong,
Inside words, unpolished or practised
Disarming words of manipulation
The liar lies within, behind the mask
Never still enough to hear the echo
Things said of my own free will
Through ignorance, through design
When will my heart ever learn?
Be still and know

We are caught up in a network
Of mutuality, inter-related
What effects one, will impact all
Words are our currency
Are we in credit or bankrupt
Do we listen to the other
Words can build up, and destroy
Not until life and experience
Strips us of our self-importance
Will we begin to grasp the truth?
Though we are many, we are one.

I am the uneasy rider of my tongue
I say things right …I say things wrong.



A.R.Wait 23rd April 2013.