Poem August 16, 1969 Issue

WORDS THAT SHINE

Jane Morse

There is silence as precious as bright gold.
It stifles anger on the tongue and stays
The quick retort. If nothing merits praise,
It seeks no fault to balloon and be retold.
This stillness does not blossom out of cold
Indifference or fear, but it obeys
A calm that seals the lips before a blaze
Of untamed words can flare up uncontrolled.
When silence yields to speech, kind thoughts will keep
The tongue from that bleak phrase, "I told you so,"
And utter those soft answers that sweep
Aside all wrath. Then from the heart will flow
The fitting words that shine, untouched with blame,
Like golden apples in a silver frame.

Jane Morse

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August 16, 1969
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