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Approaching Words

by George Hoerner

what technique do you use
is your intent to abuse
do you lie in wait
and do they take your bait

do you throw a net
catching what is no threat
trying to make them better
by strangling each letter

do you amble by then strike
do you find them all alike
maybe handle them with care
or work them to despair

of their colors do you speak
change letters till they squeak
what do you do when they squawk
i know you'd like to make them talk

find out where they hide
when you find they've lied
deconstruct their use
as if you were Zeus

no matter whence they came
it's your job to make them tame
so address them each and do not moan
one day they'll be on you headstone

08/20/2008

Posted on 08/20/2008
Copyright © 2024 George Hoerner

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 08/21/08 at 04:41 AM

I had a lot of fun reading this one - tweaked me to think about how I look at words and how I try to use them - in a different way. I will look out for the squawkers, for sure!! ;)

Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 08/21/08 at 04:41 PM

Fun zesty read George. I especially like the reference to Zeus (I do feel somewhat like a God when I write or at least a demi-God) and how you close off. Did you mean "Approaching" in the title.

Posted by JD Clay on 08/21/08 at 07:17 PM

This is a real grabber! I must confess to have used every one of these ploys one time or another while sifting through my mind for that elusive muse. But the thing that grabs me most within this stalking poem is the haunting thought our poetry might someday come to be our epitaph. Good stuff, George!

Posted by Charlie Morgan on 08/22/08 at 02:48 AM

...george, i caught the rhythm early and yet, lovely as the lilt was, i grinned BIG TIME when i saw headstone, gawsh, that put a bow on the whole piece, you never disappoint.

Posted by Dave Fitzgerald on 08/22/08 at 02:53 PM

Yep, A great read and a perfect end. I enjoyed and smiled.

Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 08/23/08 at 01:20 PM

for what were we put on this earth but to feel it out first, and what are those feeler outers but words, which come in all shapes and angles and sizes and purposes, much like a golfer is supplied with many sorts of clubs in his grab bag to pluck at any given time,. so is the word lover supplied with much in his lexicon and as there are times, times when golfers shoot holes in one, it appears to me George that is what you have done with this one, shot a hole in one with words, words given us, the lot of which we cannot cheat for they know the real score even when we do not. and can we dispatch words off our tee, lest one in our heads yells fore? who knows? perhaps a muse, whom I would wake to query, save she's a'dreaming and clearing forests with her buzz saw.

Posted by Siri Lipscomb on 08/23/08 at 09:30 PM

Your quest for just the right words is eloquently explored. Interestingly and well done...

Posted by Sandy M. Humphrey on 08/24/08 at 04:07 AM

I love this approach to our fascination to the word nation, sometimes in speaking we use grandiose and sometimes the simpliest phrasing escapes but it all comes down what is behind the words, is what we meant, what we said and how was it preceived...excellent. smh

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