words formed first in the throat
then altered with lips and tongue
fixed objects
and became meaning
modeling the world

clay marked the words
and became scripture
the past partner to the present

out popped interpreters
understanding the relevance
and importance of words
even those barely invented
and under them holy words
were the ones to rule the world
and became gateposts and railings
and everything became possible

words softly or loudly spoken smoothed
the wheels of intent like oil
and colorfully and majestically bedecked
with ritual the words firming their way into the minds
of young and old

women came too
with smiles and funeral orations
creating edifices of their own
to worship an order they proposed
and to keep life as it is
to make all proper
and clean according a sacred word
even as the poor wept

what is left for us here
on our island of understanding
nothing but magic
in the air and on the page
and to do it all again
with a different tune
and different words in a different key
so that the little children
suffering more or sometimes less
come or go to
wherever out there is here or there
among the stars
until the very end of time