(on words at the dawn of time)
We speak of people, places, things
And designate them “nouns.”
But when at first they saw the light
We might as well have called them “verbs.”
“Flute,” He said, and flute, she sang.
“Tintinnabulation!”
Silver bells, they rang.
Without the word was nothing made
Of all we see them DO.
In that beginning, words became;
Verbish nouns devoid of shame,
Naked thought, running free!
“Flower!” He said
And just like that
Rose petals filled the land.
They knew that every word He spoke
Implied His kind command.
To be is to become, you see.
The nouns, they know this well.
A wave is not a wave
Unless its waters swell.
And humans are not really human
Unless they’re humans being.
“So what,” you’ll say,
“If nouns obey?
What’s implied for me?”
Nounish you may think yourself.
Verbose you’re meant to be.
In fullness of Imago Dei,
A mystery:
Don’t you see?
You speak,
And so, thereby,
Does HE.
And when thereby
He speaks,
So, thereby
DOES He.
NOTES: I imagine a time — when time began — when nouns were not mere nouns. That was long before anyone thought it necessary or even logical that “actions speak louder than words.” That divorce came later.
What’s implied by the phrase “God IS love?” Indirectly, this poem explores that concept.
March 11, 2019 rumination: On Sunday, I had to do the scripture reading: John 14:8-14. One verse was difficult to read: “10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” See that odd juxtaposition? “words I say / Father… doing his work.” Reading this, I couldn’t help but think of the odd last two stanzas of my poem. God does/works through the Son’s speaking. In verse twelve Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Two verses later, Jesus promises, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” The Father’s doing, Jesus’ doing, our doing all get jumbled up. And the doing is related to saying/asking in unusual ways. I HAVE NOT GOTTEN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS.
The photograph used in the featured image (shown below, but mainly for social media) was taken by Dimitris Vetsikas, of Cyprus. He generously posted the photograph on Pixabay.
