Using Words

When I write, the words I use,  seem so limited, so small, and somehow empty.  My words, no matter how I place them in a sentence or a phrase, never seem able to  measure up to the “big” idea or the mystery of what I am trying to describe or explain.  My words seem unable to express what I feel, what I think, and what I want to share.  I suspect this is why I have always admired and been captivated by the way in which others can use words which “speak.”  I’m amazed at how some can put words together and say what they mean, express an idea, share what they see, and tell, with their own words, a deep mystery or beauty.  As Kazantzakis (whose use of words has stirred my soul for over 55 years) puts it:  “Under my authority (as a writer) I had nothing but twenty-six lead soldiers, the twenty-six letters of the alphabet.”   That is all any of us have, just the letters of the alphabet, letters we join together into words, words that we string together in an attempt to express mystery, beauty, ideas, and our own inner thoughts.  My words seem so small in comparison to those of a William Shakespeare, Nikos Kazantzakis, or a Maya Angelou and this is why I am an avid “Quoter,” always using the words of others, because their words speak more clearly than my own.  

Have you ever heard a more beautiful use of words than those strung together by Joyce Kilmer,  “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.”  How Kazantzakis’ words speak (even though originally written in Greek and translated into the English language) “I was always bewitched by three of God’s creatures—the worm that becomes a butterfly, the flying fish (of Knossos) that leaps out of the water in an effort to transcend its nature, and the silkworm that turns it entrails into silk.”  Who can forget Shakespeare who wove words together in such a way as to speak to his time and for all time, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”  Then, too,  I am a great fan of Dr. Seuss’ who makes words speak, “You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.  You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.  And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”

There is a beauty and power in words, whether strung together in poetic verse, musical stanza, prose, or in casual conversation.  There isn’t a word for everything, but there are good words for most things and we need to find those good words and use them. 

Words can be like the mist which hides and covers up,
or like lights that make things visible.