Ñawpaj

Word

Palabra

Simi

In the beginning was the word

Words are what make us human, some say

Words our intent to express perception of the world

world

word

All the world’s a word

somewhere

to someone

somehow

But words are not discrete objects

floating

alone

in a void

Words are related to all words

All Our Relations

words for what we do

how we are

what we see

what we think

Can we think it if there is no word for it?

Many languages create words for situations that other languages can not name

Arabic’s “gurfa,” the amount of water that can be held in one hand.

An invitation to ponder this unit of measure the next time you swim or take a bath.

Japanese “komorebi,” the sunlight that filters through the trees.

When was the last time you paused to admire komorebi in its fleeting dance with oak leaves?

Columbia, after its revolution of independence from Spain,

eliminated all words

having to do with racial distinctions.

The idea was that the elimination of these words would eliminate racism.

All would be equal citizens.

But racists were still racists.

It just took words away from oppressed peoples

to describe

their lived experiences.

So, after about 20 years the words came back into official documents.

What happens when words are taken away

that describe All Our Relations?

Fern?

Starling?

Acorn?

The Oxford children’s dictionary did just that.

How will a child understand

the metaphor about the

mighty oak growing

from a tiny acorn

if she can’t look up the word “acorn”

in the definitive children’s dictionary of the English language?

How will she wonder

at this power

of our natural world

and ponder

what this means

for her tiny self

still growing

into bigger shoes every few months?

Maybe she can learn Japanese

to savor the oak tree’s komorebi.

And learn Quechua

to look forward into the past

of ñawpaj.

About this poem

This poem is part of my Solstice solar year poem cycle, where I write a poem a day from June 22, 2019 to June 21, 2020. The poem a day may get posted on a different day than it was written, or several poems might get posted on the same day. And if I choose to submit a poem to a literary journal, I delete it from this blog before doing so. That's my project. I hope it touches your soul and makes you think. And maybe inspires you to write more poems of your own.