He has published with Black Wire, Indiana Voice Journal, Rain/Disaster/Party, Ijagun Poetry Journal and Behhutet.
WORDS
Words swarm through the mind like in a whirlwind - rushing
down our thought rivers and snapping synapse highways -
always flowing, going, knowing, telling like it is or just out right
lying - giving hope by searching solutions or conning - same
words – just the intent behind those words makes a difference
between pain or gain.
Words are strung together sounds, which can be represented
by letters so we can write those words. Dictionaries define
these words to establish coherence that we can speak and be
sure of our meaning. Syntax and grammar give us fluidity and
beauty so that we can create sentences able to tell a story with
an emotional impact that can then be understood by those who
also abide in the same rules of the language. Those words can
now become sentences that then make paragraphs, chapters,
and whole books.
Only when we have a nomocracy of love can life be beautiful
and only when our will is set on beauty can true art obtain.
Every one of us establishes his own beauty, in his own way in
that it should achieve what we most esteem, value, and uphold.
True art needs no explanation but does demand an open mind
and an unbiased heart.
Possibility and ignorance are the same raw stone that can be
carved into a radiant diamond. Practice till you are proficient –
nothing else matters, then you are no longer an outsider but a
master.
CHOOSING WORDS
Ah so many words, how they fly through our thoughts, colorful
words, expletives, words of endearment – some stick by choice
others are forgotten or avoided. Like choosing the word sick
over ill or diseased; I like the way it sounds: SICK snaps like the
crack of a whip, where as ill is distant and unsure. Diseased
sounds a warning reminding me of hissing snakes as I picture
grotesque rotting flesh.
So I gather several choice words and form a sentence and put it
out to the public and it goes into another’s brain like an app. in
a smart phone and starts operating. I suppose hate speech
would be analogous to ‘Mal-ware’.
This is for sure: words cause change.
The source of the word holds sway. “Crackers are the
problem!” would mean two entirely different things when
spoken by a civil rights worker as opposed to a nutritionist.
The power of words is so awesome as to warrant careful
consideration of their use as well as celebrate the fact that in
the US we have freedom of speech. Of course we can cite a
multiple of misuse of this right (in particular ‘bought’ speech)
but there is also the wonderful freedom of press and the heroic
publishers who pushed back at censors.
Finally let us look at the Gods of words: Hermes, Mercury,
Thoth, and Hanuman; known to be crafty, swift, clever but also
healers and philosophers. They represent dexterity of hands as
well as Magic, Alchemy, Science, Mathematics, Medicine and all
other higher learning. As a matter of fact the God of the
Hebrews created the universe with pronunciation of a word.
BANG!
Watch your words.
~Eric Hill
