Ten-Finger Exercises

power of words poem

Word Parade

Huge words guided by some unknown intention
reared up in the crowd, out of control

bearing down upon a woman and a child.
A man known as the town drunk

leaped from the wagon leading the parade
and grabbed the reins, showing

for the first time in his life, his worth;
I sat and watched it happen.

If you ever hear someone begin:
“I probably shouldn’t say this,” STOP THEM.

Still, the words with deadly force
are the ones we tell ourselves.




I wrote this about yesterday's entry, using this actual example of a parade accident as a metaphor. Probably won't be a good idea to workshop this one in my poetry group. What do you all think about it? Should the title be different? I'm not happy with this one, but wanted to use the word parade in it so you'd understand the setting.