When the words were free
the child picked them up
sucked on them, hid them
in his cheeks beside his teeth,
breathed into them and hoped.
Do you remember hope?
That this word you rolled
around in your mouth could be
something outside, someone
who could come talk to you?
Nobody talks to children, remember?
Years later there’s a little
plowed snow beside the road
here and there, most of it melted.
Even at year’s end the grass
is faintly green, at least not any
other color would describe it.
Remember color?
Remember describing
things to people who look at you
with pity or amusement as you try
to say what you have seen?
And you had only the words.
Everything else was locked up outside
in other people’s lives,
houses, churches, cars.
There is so much to remember.
So much to say, the words
still soft in your mouth.

Best wishes for the New Year
                          2021
from Robert & Charlotte Kelly