Once these words
Have moved, freely
From my mind
To the space in front of it
They are no longer mine
If ever they were;
Rather
They become
An entity all their own,
Living and breathing and eating and procreating,
Not residing for any extended period of time,
Leaving bastard children and forlorn lovers in their wake:
In the hearts and minds of all they encounter,
That a part of them may be imparted
But that they never remain still for too long
And in doing so
Expose themselves unnecessarily
And lose the essence of their being.
For it is easy to forget
These words are not our pets,
They are not a spectacle
To be carelessly devised and then abandoned,
Nor are they defenseless and small
To be coddled and spoon-fed;
Rather
They are to be respected as peers,
Observed and pondered,
Processed and analyzed,
But allowed humanity and character
Not reduced to
Formulas and data points,
Not forgotten
But neither dwelt on.
Objects, and the Distance Between Them 
So timely. I just had a conversation last night with a friend in Germany about writing and about our way of unveiling our creative work. Our association, reading out loud to each other on the phone, has been such a gift because we come from two backgrounds, two continents, yet we both agree — our words, once published, belong to the world. More than that, our lengthy pregnancy (for me, over three decades) doesn’t serve these creations — at all. Talk about coddling. Sheesh. 😛 Nothing like 30 years in the womb, hey? So — yes. I *really* like this poem. It conveys this conversation and this feeling that I hadn’t quite figured out how to articulate, so well. I’ll share it with her next time we meet. Thank you. ♥.
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That is very appropriate. I too held my words in for far too long… I am so glad to let them free and see them begin to live their own lives. It is always quite inspiring to see the connections that they make.
I really appreciate you sharing this story, and hope that your friend enjoys the piece when you next meet.
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So good to let them free! Thank you for your good wishes. I know she’ll love your poem. ♥.
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Thank you for sharing this, Niki! I really appreciate it/you.
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My pleasure 💕
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An excellent observation on the ownership of creativity. Fine writing.
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Thank you, Chris.
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Enjoyed this much
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I am very glad to hear that.
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Always love reading your work.
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Thank you, Shantanu; I always enjoy hearing from you in the comments. Thank you for contributing!
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It is always my pleasure 😊🌸
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All about balance, isn’t it? 🙂 As always, beautiful poetry you have here – I loved how you represented words as living, breathing entities, because truly they do possess great power. A weapon to wield with wariness indeed.
Also thought of sharing your work here – you’re familiar with the platform, I believe. 🙂 Have fun!
https://godoggocafe.com/2018/05/31/pay-it-forward-thursday-may-31-2018/comment-page-1/#comment-6874
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Yes, balance is critical, as well as awarness and due respect, as you also allude to.
I am very honored that you shared my post… thank you.
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Extremely well articulated what words mean to us, writers and poets. Reminded me of what I had written a couple of years back. Will share it on my blog alonwith translation, as I had written in Hindi.
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Thank you. I want to always be sure to give credit to the words… To honor them and love them as they do us.
I look forward to reading your translation.
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Oh yes, we must always honour words for our very identity hinges on how much we respect and love them.
I’ll be honoured if you read what I have written.
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