Flying Words

There is much to learn from this short poem by an unknown author:

Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds.
You can’t do that when you are flying words.
Careful with fire is good advice, we know;
Careful with words is ten times doubly so.
Thoughts unexpressed sometimes fall back dead,
But God himself can’t kill them once they’re said.

Let us be careful with our words to…
…our spouse.
…our children.
…our friends.
…our enemies.
…our neighbors.
…our co-workers.
…everyone.

We cannot haul in our words like kites. Rather, like releasing balloons they are immediately out of reach. We are left only to watch them drift away, never truly knowing where they fall.