Throwaway Words

throwaway words should beam sonically in space
but throwaway words just hang around this place
in all the blue and green

no conversations to be seen.
I dreamed that words were rose leaf bright
icarian mode

and not the mintage of the bought and sold
three lilies sung for the world on hold
hello goodbye or who do you know

or weathervane summer or winter pane snow

it's all the same when it's on with the show
o throwaway stowaway go away words
what's the latest soup you've served

will gossip save us or the herds
that bellow through and ring the bells
to tell us it's not going well

and late at night I read the classics
and wear my fleece lined winter jacket
because the heat is running low

because the only thing they know
is throwaway, throwaway words.

mary angela douglas 25 april 2020

the three lilies are a reference to a song sung in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 14