The Importance of Words

Words are more important than people realize.

I’m on Twitter, but I have a hard time with it. While it seems more focused on writing, or words, there is still this attention to constant twittering rather than touching upon deeply meaningful ideas or experiences.

Poetry shows how effective, meaningful, deep, affecting words can be. Twitter doesn’t really care either way.

There are people who use it well and are really enjoyable to follow. I think Mary Biddinger is fun. Her tweets are interesting and engaging for writers. And she’s just an awesome person, so there’s that.

I think Blockhead is funny af. Closer to twittering language, but he’s a musician, so I give some wiggle room there.

I don’t know if it’s poetry that drew out the ephemeral spirit in me or it was my spirit that brought me to poetry (and poets), but either way, this aspect of my personality doesn’t allow for much wasted breath.

I just ate pancakes after craving them for weeks!

I dunno, great. I guess. Good for you, you know?

I don’t even tell my partner when I eat pancakes, but if I see a ghost, proof of some existence beyond the grave or at least an existence within quantum here-and-not-here space, then I’m damn sure to talk about it. But Twitter isn’t really the space for that.

Trump has orange hair or Barack: Nothin’ but net! or some b.s. doesn’t mean anything to me.

Commentary isn’t speech.

Whatever it is, it doesn’t get me there. It doesn’t unlock secrets of the cosmos or even the secrets of my own self. It doesn’t improve my relationship with my cats and it doesn’t tell me what is actually going on in the world.

Language is too powerful to be used so carelessly. If we get to the point of communicating telepathically, we’ll see just how stupid our every-little-thought speech acts have been.

You hate a president. You don’t like some actress’ hair. You think pancakes are better than waffles. Great. But what do you feel? How’re the relationships in your life? Have you made art lately? And why did you make that art? Who are you reaching and for what reason? Why not explain why her red carpet hair was so bad?

What do you, o reader, think? What’s the difference between useful and not very useful writing? Is there such a difference? Is everything we say valuable? How many dumb things have I written in this post alone?