Playing with words – A Wislawa Szymborska poem

The Three Oddest Words

When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.

When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.

When I pronounce the word Nothing,
I make something no non-being can hold. 

Wisława Szymborska (1923 - 2012)
Translated by S. Baranczak & C. Cavanagh

Poets do like playing with words. And the choice of words is always a consideration. And so too the way they will present themselves when pronounced. An example is HIS, a wonderful word to be used when talking about a snake in a poem. So, if you are considering creating a poem about a snake make it masculine.

Looking at the three words in the above. Future is a two-syllable word. It is really a past/present word when split into syllables and pronounced. And so does that make all one-syllable words present, well until you release pronunciation of…