Words

by Dianne Bates

Some have shaky edges
Twisting and flapping like netted fish
And the tongue is tied.

Sometimes the mouth opens and closes
like a trap.

But the best words —
The easiest words —
are bridges:

‘Be my friend,’
‘Come and play.’

• Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #3

Dianne says: To get to this poem, I brain-stormed a variety of shapes (geometric shapes, the shape of thoughts and so on) until I arrived at words. In the end I didn’t even use the word ‘shape’; it simply acted as a starting point.