A while back I wrote a poem about words. Well, that’s not exactly right, the poem is about a lot of things; perception versus reality, truth versus lies, the whole idea that words are a little bit like porn.
Maybe harmless in small doses, but wildly insidious and addicting, one word leads to another and another, one video leads to another and another…
We could follow the thread down the rabbit hole to some really cool or strange, uncomfortable places.
In the poem, I tried to show how layered our understanding of words, and the world can be. How, when used in a certain context, the words on the page can convey two or more distinct and sometimes contrary images or ideas.
Sometimes, this split perception is a result of the reader’s own mind set or world view impacting their perception of the written word.
Sometimes it’s that there are words in English that have a certain stain of perfidy (I love this word!) about them. They mean one thing but connote another.
It’s like people who say “trust me” all the time. The minute they say that, you know you shouldn’t trust them even if you could throw them.
You know they’ve got their fingers crossed behind their backs as they spin you some yarn and the minute your back is turned, you’re in for it.
Yes, I just compared words to people and porn. Personification (attributing human characteristics or emotions to a thing, an idea or an animal) is one of the first literary devices I really got into in high school. I still love it today.
The poem is a little dark. Sometimes, that’s where my muse takes me. Read on, tell me what you think.
Word Porn
They are reeled in with ornate lies,
bright tapestries woven from the
shredded threads of dreams long-
deferred.
Bombastic platitudes to imaginary
beauty are otiose.
They are drawn, moth like, to the
pearlescent mirage of specious
charms.
With relish, fleshy obelisks ravish
lusty thighs;
diseased effluvium fructifying
reluctant wombs
that bear rotten, odoriferous fruit.
Robertha Rochelle 