I get tired of words and the ways they are wielded as weapons, used to threaten and to wound. Last week I witnessed an attempt to sever a word from its meaning in public, by a government employee, to serve their agenda. It was deeply troubling. While the damaged word and its meaning mend themselves in the realm of language, I seek solace in form: the graceful, intelligent, meaningful shapes of the myriad lives around me. I steep myself in their silent gestures, soak up a different kind of language and thought, nourishing and repairing the vital connections between world and speech.