Simple words may wound or soothen,
Much depending on their use;
They estrange as well as sadden
When their use becomes abuse.
Air may be compared to verbiage
Both in quality and mass;
Furious air will scatter foliage
Thoughtless words good friends disperse.
Temperate words tend to ennoble,
Comfort, quicken and console.
When like viands on the table
They revive the hungry soul.
Words like atom bombs are heinous
When they hurt both friend and foe;
Dangerous, cowardly and callous,
These are harbingers of woe.
Words may “light the fuse of carnage”,
They may “strike the oil of peace”;
Be you cautious how you manage,
That your words go not amiss.
Weigh them in the “Scales of Wisdom”
And be sure of their control;
Do not wing your words at random,
They may fly beyond their goal.
Words are justly termed immortal,
Whether spoken or engraved;
Therefore tarry at the portal
Till their passage way be paved.
Edward Crispin Denison George
Copyright © Politico Online 03/11/21
