Marlene, a famous grammarian, spent her final years <br />if-ing and because-ing and whether-ing, <br />neither-ing and nor-ing: trying to connect <br />the intricate clauses of her past. <br /> <br />In her younger years she had to-d <br />and before-d, of-d and until-d, <br />making each preposition a loaded proposition <br />dangling at the corner of her lips. <br /> <br />She smeared her middle years <br />with nouns, like Love and Beauty, <br />and her yearning for immortality <br />was reflected in her use of infinitives: <br />to live, to engage, to aspire, to create. <br /> <br />Now, at 94, she feels that language <br />has betrayed her; she wonders <br />if she has identified the mechanics <br />of speech, the expression of living, <br />but failed to see the underlying <br />current behind the words. <br /> <br />In conquering speech so precisely, <br />in defining so eloquently the meaning <br />of being alive, she has neglected to live it.<br /><br />Sonny Rainshine<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/after-words-2/
