Words

Inspired by “The Story of English” by Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil.


Our words engulf us like the sea
and as the dark abyss will peak,
will ebb and swell with mystery,
so too the language that we speak.

The words we hold, perchance discard,
will differ with the where and whence
but language grows with each new card
homogenized by common sense.

On Dublin streets, in Kingston bars
the native sings his odd refrain;
the language bears its local scars
yet stays intact and shall remain

the sum of all that man has wrought,
his precious words, his common thought.

© 2006 W.D. Neighbors



The words surround us like the sea
and, as the dark abyss will peak,
will ebb and swell with mystery,
so will the language that we speak.

The words we hold, perchance discard,
will differ with the where and whence,
yet English grows with each new card,
homogenized by common sense.

On Dublin streets, in Boston bars
the speech will sing its odd refrain.
Our language bears its local scars
yet stays intact and shall remain

the sum of all that man has wrought,
his precious words, his common thought.

© 2006 W.D. Neighbors