Holding Words
by Bernadette Salem (Student poet winner for September, 2004)

i keep my words
in a burlap bag
I carry clamor
as they bounce
strife
it makes them stronger
they take in life
And every word
is so unique
like picking flowers
when i speak
each word
is born inside of me
it lives and breathes and makes me free
I hold them tight
for me to muzzle
line them up and watch them fight
shift and rearrange
like a sliding square puzzle
until i get my thoughts just right
my favorite word
is snowflower
call me greedy
but i stole it from an asian girl
stumbling carelessly through english
as she talked about december skies
i want every tongue
i want to own every last word
spoken through the course of time
to understand every poem
in the version where i can hear it rhyme
i want to speak every language
from planets colliding to rose petals falling
from all things beautiful to all things appalling
i want to absorb every last word and
hold it in
leak it out only when this dam breaks and i cant hold back
the potential of words
i am words
what are words really?
they are truth, they are lies
i see words as our disguise
i carry my burlap bag of words
keep it close
Everyday
so i'll always know
just what to say
Maybe if like you
if you' re something divine
i might spill you words
like streaks of sunshine
pour them to you
so get a catching cup
take a piece of me
and soak it up
but mostly
i just hold them back
they are for me to hide
i can't give up too much of me
don't you see
I can't just give you words
i am words
they aren't free
you have to work
to make a guiding light
point it like a laser
lie me limp
and cut me open
penetrate these
dark elliptical spaces
reshape your ears, hear the words
unblind your eyes
reach inside
and i'll be free.