Words

Before I had words of my own

I found myself in poems

Or maybe I was lost.

I drank them up

Swimming through meter and rhyme.

Internalizing lines and verse until they became part

of the very air I breathed.

And when, I had no book,

I could pull an old favorite from my memory

to soothe an ache

As randomly as picking a tear from a cloud.

On quieter days I turn to my old friends.

They comfort me

Each in their turn.

Each eternally predictable

As I reach for words.

And I know that lost or found

Emotions are easier in poems than in people.

Reviews

[Melanie Jane Boicourt S..]

Yes, you are right. Expessing emotions is easier in a poem than face to face too. Face to face, we get caught up in our emotions and the words get stuck in our throats or on the tips of our tongues.
Very nice poem. Very good expression of your emotion. lol
Love All, Mejasha

[Jen]

.

[...]

. oh ... i'll just say these words will always be with me ...
. the lyrics of some songs were my friends ...
. and "friends" weren't friends at all ... quite often ...

[Jeff Loquist]

I knew that if I wanted to find a hidden gem all I needed to do was dig around in your backyard.

[alan peter kelly]

this is a wow poem...i could carry on all floral and superlative in all hues drenched inside sincerity...but believe i will just leave it at wow...

[Creepy Swine Guy]

I wish my memory was so sharp. What a gift to be able to pull one up at will. Emotions are indeed easier in poems than in people. Is that why we love our poems? Do they soften the bite?

[Adrian K. Smith]

I can see where it may have appeared interesting that I do not read what I write, for I do not treat words as friends. In a sense, I can see where there would be a certain comfort to them - and how well they would define themselves amongst themselves - as opposed to the manner of trying to apply them to people. When it comes to human emotion, words fail on so many levels - and being a person rather given to empathy, I have oft found that simply being there can do so much more than words could ever dream to do. There is a magic though, to what you are saying about what words mean to you. They are there when you need them, whether you believe them lost or at hand - they do not fail you in the manner that people have perhaps failed you. There is that mix of joy and of perchance more hidden here beneath the surface. It is definitely a well written piece. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[DRIVEN]

Retreating to the world of words is something I do also, as do most writers to express themselves...It is one reason why judgement of poetry is so hard for me since I read the message and not the structure as much...I love the last line as it is....thanks for sharing this with me!

[Mark Pearce]

A couple of suggestions come to mind.

The commas seem unnecessarly interruptive in "And when, I had no book,"

And

The last line. Shouldn't it be "Emotions are easier to _______ in poems than in people" with the blank filled in with something like read, or decipher?

I feel guilty suggesting these things, as you are the best writer I've found on WC.org, and it is another impactful work.