Were I allowed a single word each day
Perhaps I'd value it. I'd give it thought
And speak it slowly, as a child is taught
To do. And then, who knows, each word might say
Precisely what it means. Instead, I play
With words, use twice as many as I ought
And get intoxicated by the sport
Of badinage. How proudly I display
What I term 'my vocabulary'. Yet
A word cannot be owned. It is absurd
To cast around and catch them in my net,
And use them carelessly so sense is blurred.
In search of high-flown phrases I forget
Creation started with a single word.
