BY GRACE A. JOHNSON

Is war just a word?

Is peace just a word?

Is hate just a word?

Is love just a word?

Is death just a word?

Is life just a word?

They are not.

They are everything.

Every meaning and definition.

Every pain and every sorrow.

Every joy and every laugh.

Every emotion and thought.

They hold promises.

And threats.

They hold futures.

And pasts.

They change.

And they resign.

They fill.

And they empty.

So tell me…

Is hell just a word?

Is damn just a word?

Are these words hollow

And lifeless?

Have they no meaning?

Have they no connotations?

No pain?

No sorrow?

No death?

No threat?

No past?

No resignation?

No emptiness?

Are they nothing?

Or do they tear down?

Do they destroy?

Do they fill minds with bitterness?

And hearts with aches?

What about the others?

I shan’t call their names.

For they do fill me with bitterness and aches and pains.

Profanity is not holy.

Profanity is not just.

Profanity is not nothing.

For it has the power to rust and defame and sully.

It ruins something pure and lovely.

Profanity is not just words.

Just as war means something.

Just as peace means something.

Just as life and death and love and hate can conjure up so many different thoughts.

So many emotions.

So many heartaches and joys.

Choose your words carefully.

It matters not what you think.

Or what you mean.

But what those words have the power to convey.