THE WORD SHE BECAME

I don’t know why you’re making fun of me
for the fact that I don’t know how to whistle.
You seem to think that everybody is born with the ability.
And I’m here to tell you that it’s not true.
That some of us are happy just being able to hum.
And imagine that the humming noise we’re making
is the same commotion the kite makes
every time it stops to think that it’s unraveling the string.
And a lot of people, by the way, don’t think that whistling is such a big deal.
I don’t want to upset the apple cart. But that’s just the way it is.
I’ve heard them say more than once
that if God wanted us to whistle, She would have learned how to do it Herself.
She wouldn’t have stuck around this long
unknitting the tissues we offered that sanctioned the word She became.

by Lee Stern