A phrase released can never be unsaid –
it radiates from out the mouth and mind,
and particles of sense insert, instead,
the bits the sayer might have held behind
if thought and strategy preceded tongue
and magic were detected in the word.
For language is the light we loose among
ourselves, no sooner voiced than spiked or blurred.

The speaker says “I take it back” in vain,
and must accept the shape the message made.
and this when most reaction isn’t plain,
but often aims away from what conveyed
the impetus for speaking out at all
the words the speaker rarely can recall.