WORDS, LIKE ARROWS

You lift the bow
retrieve an arrow
and pull the string taut.

Your muscles tighten

as you grip the

handmade weapon.

Your eyes take aim,

calculate the distance

between your position

and the target.

Words, like arrows,

have the power to kill,

to impale the soul

as well as the body.

Archers take a

steadying breath

for a good reason:

once words fly

like arrows,

it is too late

to retrieve them.

Sarah M. Prindle received an Associates in English from Northampton Community College. She loves reading everything from historical fiction and memoirs to poetry and mysteries. She hopes to someday publish her own novels and poetry collections and has already had her work published in several literary magazines and websites.