so much need
in the world and
so much talk,
so many kind
duplicitous words
in response to
so much deprivation
and want.

don’t let me fall
into the speech of
of the pleasant and
cynical,
from the words that
serve only to increase
my own comfort while
keeping the pain of
others at bay.

teach me to speak
your truth:
words that resonate like
a silver string
forged and refined to
utmost purity,
words that pierce the
hard shell of equivocation,
words that reverberate
with raw precision,
words that create
whole worlds
anew.