Little Words

Words roll and tumble through the air

It’s funny, because those words hold the most possibility

We either hate it or love it, but everyone uses it

Some words flash their importance and stare you in the eye

Big words, little words

Words that glow and vibrate

And words that are content to sit there

Filling in the spaces

Some words are flashy and bright

Like ostentatious. Rolling on the tongue

Tumbling in the mouth

Reverberating in the chest

Until they come out

And everyone stares

They like being looked at

Words like and, be, and maybe

Maybe is mysterious

But challenging too

The other words: and and be

Are necessary. We can’t communicate without them

Big, flashy words are fun

But not necessary like the little ones

Forcing you to take notice

Begging you to remember

Other words don’t

And fun

Fun words like

Ambidextrous

Tatterdemalion

Or even

Symbolic

But the other words, The ones that sit back and let the flashy ones get the attention

The ones that are cement for our language, Essential for communication, We ignore

We know them, but we don’t talk about them

We use them constantly, but we don’t acclaim them

Because little things slip through the cracks, Gradually filling them up

The ones that fill in all the spaces

Why?

Creating a solid base

But the base gets concealed by the building, The bigger words, And the little ones get lost in the confusion

Just

Like

That

So I had to write

About the little words

About the words that we all need

But that no-one seems to hear.

And my pencil flew across the page

Little words becoming important

And flashy words adding taste.

Words like can, and do, and yes.

Promising words.

Hopeful words.

Foundation words.

Little words.