Without Words

Without Words

© By Rivka Lubin 

I write for the same reason I breathe

If I didn't I would die

Without words to express myself

Life is a broken winged bird that can't fly

I write my soul down word for word

I write things I could never say

Without this method of expression

I would cry every day

I try to forget all the regret

Or else life is mine to miss

Without saying what I truly feel

Then I'll always stay like this

So I write for the same reason I breathe

It's so that bird can fly up to the sky

I need to rise higher and higher

And finally stop asking why

Some days in our lives we just need to express ourselves even though it may be very hard, and even though we don't always know what the outcome will be. Whether we are expressing our feelings emotionally, verbally, or through writing, these are all filled with words. Obviously, we wouldn't be able to talk and converse with one another without words, and we cannot write without words, or else we would just end up write the alphabet over and over again in different orders. You may ask though, how can emotions be filled with words? Well, as a matter of fact emotions are filled entirely with words. Emotions themselves are words, and the reasons we achieve all these emotions is because of words, and because of thoughts, which all require words. In this poem, the poet chooses to incorporate these thoughts into the production of his poem.

The poet starts off the poem very strong with the words "I write for the same reason I breathe". That is a very intense way of thought! Breathing is a necessary part of our lives for survival. Without breathing, the result will be death. The poet conveys that words are an essential part of our lives by comparing words to breathing. The second line is also just as intense and strong since the poet states that without words, death really does happen. The poet then uses a simile to compare like to a bird with a broken wing, but doesn't necessarily state why this has been used for comparison. All these elements create such a grabber. 


The first stanza greatly introduced the poem to the reader very well and causes the reader to want to continue reading the poem. The first two lines of the second stanza are very complex and artistically composed. It caused me to look deeper into meaning to try to understand exactly what the words are trying to say. Yet, once I finish reading the stanza, everything becomes clear. The third stanza talks about what will happen without words, which greatly transitions into the last stanza that talks about mostly the opposites of what has been stated earlier. The last stanza restates the first line of the first stanza once again, creating a feeling of resolution within the poem. The second line of the last stanza then talks about how because of writing and because of words, the bird can fly. Which represents how through words we are able to live our lives. Then the last two lines state what must be done and the very last line greatly caught my attention. The last line sates "And finally stop asking why". I find that to be very true that in order to rise higher and higher in life, sometimes it's necessary to stop asking why. It's important to ask why in life but it's not very healthy to start asking "why" when it comes to how life treats us and how life goes. When things start dealing with how life is, it just truly is how it is and asking why won't change anything.

This poem is found HERE