They Say
by Bob Perelman
Every word’s a poem,
but, full disclosure,
whenever I hear
“always”
bang! another hit
to my faith
in the infallibility
of language. I know
it’s not savvy
to take a dislike
to any particular word,
which, after all,
has almost no say
in what it’s
being made to do.
8 billion experts
and working mics
so few and far between.
But always is not
that good a hill
to die on.
Maybe better
to just bring it out
for holiday inspection
and then put it back
with a strengthened sense
of how fragile sequence is.