They Give Advice

by Emma Noyes
(Byfield, MA)

They want me to say all,
My words are an extra note to be taken,
They don't matter at all,
Words of mine float around the air each unnoticed,
But carefully placed,
And when my words are breathed in they are heard,
Not the way they came out but the meaning,
Eventually everybody will find my words meaning,
Like a hidden metaphor an author slips into a sentence.

They want me to engulf their every word,
To swallow them whole like a grape,
But their words have no meaning,
They dont represent feelings or beiefs,
Just words already said or invented,
Worthless to listen to.

Advice they say to me,
To me advice is a forum,
For people to hint at what needs improvement,
For people to hide behind what they say,
Advice would be nice if it wasnt advice.

These people invade my life like termites invade a tree,
My family has eaten up their advice like wood,
And yet my spoken voice is hidden intill the advice is gone,
When eeryone gets along and words are never forgotten,
I will learn to speak of endurence and love.