Words

Pen drips,

Ink smudges,

A second skin.

Scribble-scrabble,

Scurried scratches,

A first language.

Ringing tones,

Singing syllables,

A soul.

But shaking hands,

Chatting chit-chat,

Alien, foreign.

Anecdotes given freely,

Spoken words,

Unspeakable.

Isolation

For notebooks filled,

Understandable.

But trading words

For trading stories?

Questionable.

Is a word worth

The worth of a friend’s

Words?