WORDThe loveliest lines I can imagine,Written wordsLike the lines of Michelangelo’s Sculptures Created of white marble, Marvelous, words,Stones, immovable, For works of genius. How can the hands of mankind Create From dense particles of stoneInto lovely forms, the human body?So too, words from the invisibleMade into beauty . . .Alchemy, The written wordEtchings of divinityGranted to the mortalGateway to immortalityGrid of civilizationAvogadro’s numberElectron, numerical technologyRenaissance statuesPainted with fine oilOn satin sheets of gold threadedMother boards illuminated By lightThoughts, like mistsEthereal, Transcription to wordsAt times, laborious taskBut essential.The flow may be fluidLike the silken locks of Angels’ hair, At times slow like a rheostat’s Dimming lightNew words will ariseFrom authors’ passionsTo describe secret depths Translated over chasms of What was lost from humanityLifting him From the sundry,And the mire,Delivering precious contentInvisible cathartic synapse For release to transportBeyond drudgery, And brutish earth, lowest plane.Mere existence otherwise,Absent mind interface And wordMore will comeSeasoned craftsmenForming even nowAnd always, due Providence Yet to be . . . To handle wordsLike sharpened sword Carve reality and see A deeper meaning than just to be Consult the masters and escape,Follow them and their likeRead the words . . .Aldous Huxley, John Milton, Isaac Asimov, Jack London, Inventive handlers of the magic tradeJules Verne, Descartes, Socrates, Di Vince, ChristCountless more . . .Mix it up, eat the words,Masters of written word, Use their script, indelible, Escape the pillageOf evil minds who would distainPlunder libraries to kill the soulOr persecute the handlersWith threats And burn, erase or otherwise destroyForce concealmentWords are hidden in other worlds, Minds, some destroyed for evermore,Some in Books, plain to see, Some unnoticed, in caves . . .Clay pots in desert wastelands, Holy scrolls, Isaiah’s booksAgainst all odds, foundBy wandering shepherd boyCasting stones into a cave Words lie hidden far yonder Star bleached sands ’round Face on Mars, Ancient pyramids there,Long gone mysterious raceTheir words await Carnarvon’s dazzling discoveryChinese cuneiform, Rosetta stone, hieroglyphics, Arabic swirls, algebraic,Aladdin’s lamp, Hebrew script, TorahCambodian doily, snowflake lines,Morse code . . . cursive script.Da Vinci mirror codes,Arthur Clark, Khalil Gibran,Words wielded as hammer and chiselTo sculpt, shape, break . . . move Mountains of ignorance, fearWords used softly,As wisps of air, Sun’s light on alpine meadowFlowing eternity,LoveIron mind from red dust Mortal earth, conceived Brought to life Tools, inventions, Ladles molten iron filledSteel, nakedFragile human Fleshly arms, fingers bloody,There standsPorous skin, translucent,Flesh and bone,Confronting earth rockMarvel flesh WordIron submits!Schematics of alpha numericDots, tittles, bars and spaceReflected to pupil and brainSeemingly from thin, inspired airSkyscrapers, Buoyant iron, Air breathing machineSubmerged, ’neath infinite tonnageOf salt and water pressureFlesh, shadowy, in dim lit aislesPlotting, breathing, devising, ThinkingTinkering wordWhile others above sleepSome ride or fly in thin alloyed,Metallic steeds created by powerOf wordsBy word, enemies vanquished, Minds stirred Mobilization, imaginative forms, Made materialThe meek rose strong, Ordinary folk from sleep awoke Confident, Fought courageously.Oppressed were liberated andSome framed great writs.Constitutions, holy books,Laws and legacies birthedSet in stone and written in hearts Human heritage mixed in blood Pen your words authors, poets, Scatter seeds,Stir imaginations Raise those who sleep Awake the dead Give joy to the sadFlight to them who cannot walkSet free the slaveSend love to ones who grieveOr haven’t hopeIn the beginningWas the WordAnd the Word was made fleshAll things were made By the Word, theVisible and invisibleThe Word spoke: “Let there be Light!”