Words and Sanity Sanity I talk to the waves and cry with the gulls whose shadows float upon the peagreen waters, I stand by the railings along the sea wall, watching the tide softly tease the clumps of seaweed, the wind swirls sand clouds around my legs, stinging tingling bare skin, I feel the power of this invisible force, holding me up swaying me side to side engulfing me as I close my eyes, I feel safe Mary-Jane Ng *** Words Words – tumble out of mouths Beautiful & cruel Thoughtful Thoughtless Words – transformative Informing – disrupting – mending - blending Never-ending A final vocabulary not even in sight Words – evolving dissolving times & spaces Contact between races Different tongues are rungs on the ladder of life Words – the news media’s principle tool Spinning truth & lies Strong words Bonding words I promise words Those - I’ll never do it again words Some sharp needle point words Wounding words Blunt talk Soft chalk - of teachers blackboard words Shhh! Soft cooing Wooing words the Erotic curves of poetic words Outrageous courageous words Need ears While some words lurk in the head Maybe to never see the light of day Like a secret submarine beneath the ice Who pops up Tourette’s like to surprise Even the polar bears Released from torpedo tube number 1 A direct hit on the chin of religion “..No transcendent truth present outside the field of writing can govern theologically the totality of the field.” (Jacques Derrida Margins of philosophy p.7 c university of Chicago 1982) As we reel from the complex density of such words Seeking a simple truth to proclaim Religion defends itself by book.... In the beginning was the word, & The word was with God, & The word was God..... (Bible N.T John 1:1) The word is at my command.. Andrew Henry Smith *** Sanity Breakdown Can be a Breakthrough, A sane response To an insane world. Even my strange ideas Were based on Real trauma. I hold my head high, I feel no shame, I came out of it Stronger, Braver, Healthier. Charlotte Palmer *** Words Words are cold comfort When said on the phone to a sad heart grieving alone. This is a time to hug and hold Lockdown keeps us apart So my comfort stays cold. Cecile May Raw *** Words 'Sticks and stones May break your bones But words Will never hurt you'. The old lie. If he had broken My bones They'd have healed Long ago. My mind, though, The scars are there And run so deep, With every callous Remark, criticism, Threat. Use your words With great care. Charlotte Palmer ***