Words of Deliberate Desolation

"Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge." - Toni Morrison, Nobel Lecture, 1993

Words of Deliberate Desolation

With several wilful neglects

Of which many are guilty

There nowadays manifests

A glut of verbal misdirections

A woeful abuse of words

Twisting true definitions

And render signs unclear

To legitimise falsehoods

Clichés and obscure forms

To travail and clutch power

Slew and complicate meaning

A language instrument of terror

When real oration translates

Into a political tool of derision

This sad migration of speech

Just becomes a satirical skill

Copyright @ Phillozofee 2019

Reviews

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

We are in tandem on this dear Phil. How do we save the words and ideas that we hold dear? You write an honorable and heartfelt treatise, especially eloquent in these times. Your poem is the embodiment of beautiful language respected and used to describe truth. Kudos!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this holds for so many levels....from this happening in families with verbal abuse, to government individuals (not naming names) certainly abusing with political orations.
damn relevant poem today, my friend.
well expressed.
j.