small

small words
can find us
a place to grip
that truth which slips
through our hands.

do not reach for
hard words that
use more than one breath
to get to the point;

few of us
have a clue as to how
to cut through the smoke
they give off and get to
a clear view of
what we seek.

tell the tale that should be told
in small tight words
and see what should be seen.
seize it at once.

then, with one hand
clenched tight on the scruff
of the neck of what we’ve caught,
we can call it as we see it in short
bursts, tell it
to stay or go, beg it to live or die,
and we know it will get what we say;

and we will know that what it does next
is what it should do and there is no
chance it did not get what we meant to say
of what it meant to us.

we can go home when we are done
and know we did what we could.
we will not cheer or cry. we will say:

small words can save or kill.
what they make clear stays clear.
what they kill stays dead.
what life they save shines.