One Word

• Chantelle Bailey, Grade 9, Downlands Sacred Heart College
• Poetry
• 2010

2nd in the 'Pieces of Paradise 2010/2011' competition

The bearer of good deeds and honest intentions,
The whisper of regret within shimmering veils of contrition
Said, once…twice… with such force and emotiveness
Can cure even the most agonizing trepidation.
Yet upon the third…fourth… fifth time gradually loses sincerity,
Until it is meaningless, futile, bearing the same weight as that of dust in the wind.

It is one word, said within the right time, with proficient earnest and timing
That it offers such prosperity in times of inconceivable darkness.
…Yet said often as a mere excuse when ones tongue is tied… has now lost its meaning,
And has become a word of every day life, forcing its true meaning to be smothered in a cocoon of lies.

…But every so often, like the rays breaking through the cloudiest day,
It is said…not as a fleeting mumble, nor insufficient excuse
…It is meant, and when this happens, this word may once again change lives and offer that which no excuse ever will…


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