I knew a man
\nwho had a word for everything.
\nCould paint pictures on stone,
\ncarve epigrams in wood,
\ncapture tenses,
\nand like fence,
\nblock everything out.
\nHe could sum a clue
\ninto an answer,
\nand people were amazed.<\/p>\n
He was an artist.
\nHe found the heart of a matter,
\nlifted wiggling from the chest,
\npulsating with the fury
\nof its empty chambers.<\/p>\n
But speaking to him
\nI found the number of words he used
\nfilled only a page,
\nwere only flourishes.
\nA boy of five had more,
\nand his adoring subjects
\ncould fill books.<\/p>\n
He was a mime
\nwhen he used language.
\nHe waved his hands like wands,
\ngrimaced outrageously,
\ndanced as he spoke,
\npounded a tree,
\nwept tears at a slight,
\nhummed with joy.<\/p>\n
He was a show,
\norchestra and conductor,
\nso no one noticed
\nthe few words he had.
\nBut he understood edges and lines,
\ncold and wet,
\npain and sorrow.
\nThe empty places between thoughts,
\nthe fullness of silence,
\nthe rumble of rain.
\nAnd people found him articulate,
\nmissing nothing,
\ncapturing all nuance,
\nleading them to mystery.<\/p>\n
And he was a man without language
\nin the usual sense.
\nHis arm would encircle you,
\nand you knew what he knew.
\nHis eyes would gaze rapturously
\nand you saw what he saw.
\nHis lips would purse
\nand carry the day.
\nHe invented a language
\nthat everyone heard,
\nand when he died,
\npeople said,
\nhe had a way with words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I knew a man who had a word for everything. Could paint pictures on stone, carve epigrams in wood, capture tenses, and like fence, block…<\/p>\n