from the Naming Things poetry cycle...these poems are about the process of learning one's language
Lyrics
Remember being young
when the words were ready
but not your tongue?
Remember falling, anger
fear, standing just to fall
once again,
remember then?
Remember not knowing
the why and how and who
of everything and everyone
and especially you?
Remember shrieking
with a joy so close to the surface
it was a sense as real as
sight or smell or touch
and remember when
wondering was breathing
and laughter was
just because?
Why then
when memory installs
do we forget the substance
of being at all?
