Musings from the Ozone

Biting, stinging words……they seemed to leap off the paper and attack me!  Piercing, cutting, dividing words, tearing my tongue out as it were, with their grip. Words; many words, with succinct meanings, disguised by flowery surrounds of honey-sweetened turns of phrases;  gently and closely interconnected with a languid sweetness which bordered on a  plastic flattery;  the meaning somehow still stuck out of the tangled speech, found their mark in my heart and wounded me.  Innocently, I had read the lilting, hypnotic phrases, unsuspecting any danger, until I was pulled into the web of sticky glue;  how did I never suspect that any secret dagger would be enclosed within?

Words can be meaningless.  Words can be cover-ups.  Words can be pithy, terse or painful.  Words can be lies. Words can be profound truths, but what are words without the human character behind them?  The character, human by all means, has to be somewhat understood before the words take on a life.  What is this character driving at?  What words will he or she use to speak out their soul?  What is in that soul that needs expression?  Why are some words meant to shock a person?  What words are used to soothe a disgruntled spirit?  What word would one use to pacify an avenger?  What words are so weighty that one can use them all alone?  Perhaps 'justice,' or 'peace' could qualify as heavy solitary words?

Words that can hurt and maim the spirit seem to need companions of words in order to envelope their poison in the manner of deception.  One runs away from hateful words; words that are spit out in anger and used with foul language.  One is not necessarily hurt by swearing; the imminent attack from the foul person who spews forth such debauchery is his own worse enemy;  most folk know how to avoid them.  However, the skilled words of men who use cleverly positioned words to write painful dialogues, are capable of leaving one to wonder if they were flattered or wounded!  Deception is part of the process.  No straight forward talk, because bluntness could kill the issue directly and quickly, leaving no questions behind.  An experienced writer can manipulate words in such a way that they could seamlessly cut through the heart; skillful in leaving only questions and unexplained motives behind. The lack of explanations are just part of the equation; although it is perhaps the hardest for the reader to sort through. The other part, the aggravating part, is when you are  issued 'consolations;' they remark that they do not wish to 'hurt' you, the reader. This evasiveness allows them to back out of the issue, and leave the reader to decide whether he or she was wounded, offended, instructed, cajoled, or left for dead!

What words? Trigger words, sharp words, rhetorical words, insincere words, flattering words, deceitful words and the like;  they are words that are put together to cause discomfort.  They are the words put together to convey a message which can pierce the soul with the accuracy of an arrow….