TO POETS WHO WHINE ABOUT
THE INADEQUACY OF LANGUAGE
If you distrust words
so much, why not
be quiet? Why waste
the sacrificed flesh
of trees, or scatter your
paltry traces across
our computer screens
(their pixels lit by burning
400-million-year-old ferns
or butchering big rivers
with the blades of turbines)?
You’d deplete the earth
to trumpet your faithlessness?
Why not simply learn
to paint, or play the flute,
or bow in rapt silence over
a spinning potter’s wheel?
Words don’t serve you
because you won’t serve
them. Therefore,
just shut up. Get thee
hence! And don’t let the sacred
door of the dictionary hit you in the ass.
Joseph Hutchison, Colorado Poet Laureate 2014-2019, has published 20 collections of poems and edited or co-edited three poetry anthologies. He currently directs two master’s-level programs for University College at the University of Denver: Professional Creative Writing and Arts & Culture Management. Joe lives with his wife, Melody Madonna, in the mountains southwest of Denver, Colorado, the city where he was born. 
"Why not simply learn<br />to paint, or play the flute,<br />or bow in rapt silence over<br />a spinning potter’s wheel?"<br /><br />Word up!
Ouch!
Heh. As if they would….