What Are Words?
by Bonica Brown
Sweetly spoken moments,
Secrets shared between friends,
A mother’s loving hum,
Quiet moments,
Memories,
Breath on the wind,
Storms that rage and pass.
Words are spoken.
They are written dreams,
Whispered promises.
Tired ramblings,
Sometimes they are loud,
Others never heard.
Words rage—
Full of vain imaginings.
They create and destroy.
Words speak life,
And they bring death.
Words can change the course of history,
Soften hearts of stone.
They curse generations
And bless nations.
They praise the heavens
And sink into the mire.
God hears.
He leans down to listen—
Our prayers,
The praise on our lips,
Our complaints,
Our curses.
He sees the scribbles,
The ink-smudged hands.
Good or bad,
Our words are not lost to Him.
They drift away,
Forgotten by the hearer,
Lost to the speaker.
They were once heard,
Perhaps seen,
Said.
Yet they fade.
Like people,
They return to dust—
They blow away,
Chaff on the wind.
Generations pass,
And with them, so do their words.
Will they be remembered?
Words fade, people fade—
Are they all forgotten?
Was there a point?
What purpose do words serve?
Will they last,
Or are they blotted out,
Lost forever in time?
They are written and recorded,
Carved into stone,
Yet they still disappear.
Like a continual dripping,
They corrode and cover,
Forgotten with time.
I miss your words.
I miss your voice.
Your memory lingers on,
But just for a moment—
You are fading.
Your memory,
Your words,
Your impact,
Wisdom and experience,
Lost to a world that moves on.
Though they live on in me,
And the stories pass down,
Our memory slips.
Words fade and disappear.
Life moves on.
It ebbs and flows.
Tides change.
Words disappear.
Memories fade.
I miss your words.
I miss your voice.
Words matter.
Each performs its purpose—
Its time and place.
God hears.
He sees.
He remembers the words.
The words are not lost.
The people are not gone.
They fade and disappear
Like the flowers of the field,
But they are never forgotten—
Not as long as time exists.
We are held accountable by our words.
They love,
They hate—
From the same tongue,
Life and death,
Joy and sorrow,
Bitterness and blessings.
Who can control our words?
Knives that stab,
Weapons we wield,
Stones we throw.
Speak words of worth—
That last like jewels.
They may fade away,
Yet they will always be remembered.
Speak life.
Let praise continually be on our lips.
I miss your words.
I will hear your voice again.
Time deceives,
Life fades and is hidden from view,
Yet words live on.
As long as I have breath,
Your memory lives on.
We are not forgotten.
We are not lost.
God of the universe,
Keeper of our words—
He holds them close,
Records them in eternity,
And remembers us.
God remembers us.