IF ONLY WORDS COULD TELL

I have no arrows in my quiver,

But only words.

While words can wound, heal,

Soothe, frighten, cajole,

And a thousand things more,

Words cannot tell the longing

Which rests cold and unrelenting

In my heart.

If only words could tell

How much light has left my life,

How much pleasure has gone

From each day,

Then I would be the king of words,

But,

A pauper when it comes

To peace and love.

So, like a hunter without his arrows,

I must seek the light and pleasure,

Without a way to find them,

Or to tell,

The keeper of that light and pleasure,

What they meant to me,

And still mean,

Even as I languish,

Unable to speak and break the spell.

If only words could tell,

And hearts could hear.

• Donovan Baldwin