95 Words: Truths which must remain unuttered

95 Words is a series where writers compose short works inspired by different readings of a single quotation.

 

The reading:

 

How great the multitude of truths which the garment of words can never contain! How vast the number of such verities as no expression can adequately describe, whose significance can never be unfolded, and to which not even the remotest allusions can be made! How manifold are the truths which must remain unuttered until the appointed time is come! Even as it hath been said: “Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear it.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p 176)

 

And now, 95 words:

 

This Poem Intentionally Left Blank

…
(She unfolds the page as if it holds an infant.

As if it contains life itself – sleeping and miraculous.

She unfolds the page, and wraps it around herself,

Letting its emptiness enfold her.)

…

A philosopher once said

You cannot use language to get outside language.

But that is the poet’s task:

To use language to get outside language.

So there must be a way

To craft a sharp blade, or blade a stout craft

From the tensile bars of alphabets

So we might sail, well-armed, through the clamor

Into light upon light upon light.

– Andréana Lefton, 95 words + title

 

to approximate, a definition

to guess
to estimate
to translate, interpret, transliterate
to whisper a white lie over dinner
to sing sorrow
to draw a rough outline

to wake in the morning
and reach for a passing dream
to grab it by its tail and pull
it back to earth
where it speaks
in a broken tongue

to tell her you love her again
and again and again
until the words feel cheap
like paper

to ask the spirit to visit
like you’ve read in books
to look for it in dark places
in your pockets, and in stone

– Caitlin Johnson Castelaz, 95 words + title