Where Have the Words Gone?

Where have the words
Gone
That spoke of love
and
Summers never
Meant to
Last

Words that aroused a hope
That would flood a room
With kindess
Bringing you
Deeper
And deeper
Into me

What is this air
Thick now
With the saturation of
Cynics
Defamation
Desquamation
How could there ever be
A nation
Drowning itself
In a sea of shredded
Souls
Left
When words
Come passing on
Through

Sticks and stones you say
As you bleed out
From the crevices
You cannot see

I do not pretend
To say it doesn't hurt
I just won't pretend
To not care
To not burn inside
To yearn beside
Those that sing
And dance
And breathe
Carrying on
Until their hearts have
Found
Where the words have ​gone