word party

The words are jumbled, flowing, frolicking, stumbling, pushing one another in their rush to reach the mouth…or the ends of my fingers. They are a rowdy bunch, sometimes laughing and jostling each other good-naturedly, other times in fierce competition, no friendly match at all. I wonder what would happen if I just let them scream and throw themselves at my throat? Or at the paper? What a mixed up mess they would be. No, they need a firm hand. They need direction, and discipline. They need to confer with one another, to see which are the important ones and which can be left in the darkroom for another day.

These are my thoughts today. I close my eyes and see words like little men in costumes, or like little stick figures. Some have fat little bodies, rather grotesque really. Others are skinny, no-nonsense words. They’re dressed very frugally. No bright colors for them! Black, brown, grey, maybe a little olive green thrown in for a drab dab of color.

I like the bright, cheerful, happy words. They dance across my mind in robes of chiffon and silk, long flowing sashes trailing behind them as they pirouette on my mind-floor. That beautiful dance floor where thoughts are free to glide and prance and droop and sag and sit in the corner on the wallflower bench. Rejection, acceptance, joy, suspicion, fear, sorrow, gladness – all are invited to the word party.

Tell me, what words are dancing in your head right now? This is what happens to me when I’m caught up on my work and have a few minutes between jobs.