When I was just a girl, I gave all my love to just a boy who did not in fact want it. He took it and flew, and with the space where it used to reside, I have filled my heart with tiny things.

The closest distance between two souls

Is this space of a single word.

But what I say to a lover

And what I say to a friend

Have very different sounds

What I say to a stranger,

What I say to a monster,

What I say to imagined companions—

It is the choosing that defines our distance.

For all the words ever spoken,

Ever written in notes of love or songs of pain

For every word I’ve ever heard,

And every word you’ve ever read,

I have learned a single truth upon which I can rely—

The one word ever breathed aloud

Worth giving to another

Is simply, “hello”—

An empty slate, devoid of judgment.

We only ever lose sight and direction in the choosing.

A poorly chosen word,

It can bring the soul to its knees.

A word spoken well,

A fount of peace.