The word is out. You must have
Felt its force as it rose in your throat
And made its pilgrim’s path
Through the cavern of your mouth
Into the clean air that once
Divided us like an uncharted sea,
But now joins us as a pane of tempered
Glass joins the two sides of its frame.

And now the word is in. It crashes
Through my inner ear and tunnels
Through every bone and fibre that it meets
Along the way until it settles in my heart.
You say the word did not escape
But was released. Well, you have the right
To know that now I am its new keeper,
The word will dwell forever in this cell.