POEM: A CLICHÉ

photography by tauhhid

A CLICHÉ

A cliché

is what we all say

when we’re too lazy

to find another way

and so we say

warm as toast,

quiet as a mouse,

slow as molasses,

quick as a wink.

Think.

Is toast the warmest thing you know?

Think again, it might not be so.

Think again: it might even be snow!

Soft as lamb’s wool, fleecy snow,

a lacy shawl of new-fallen snow.

Listen to that mouse go

scuttling and clawing,

nibbling and pawing.

A mouse can speak

if only a squeak.

Is a mouse the quietest thing you know?

Think again, it might not be so.

Think again: it might be a shadow.

Quiet as a shadow,

quiet as growing grass,

quiet as a pillow,

or a looking glass.

Slow as molasses,

quick as a wink.

Before you say so,

take time to think.

Slow as time passes

when you’re sad and alone;

quick as an hour can go

happily on your own.

 a poem by Eve Merriam

painting : Blevin

Copyright © 1964 from It Doesn’t Always Have to Rhyme, by Eve Merriam

taken from Language And How To Use It by Scott, Foresman and Company, Glenview, Illinois 

Copyright © 1969, 1973 by by Scott, Foresman and Company

All Rights Reserved.