Words can sting and cut, dig deep and hurt. Sometimes they are empty and wasted. Words can be wanting; so much less than what they should have been. Woke words can be thoughtless in their perfection; at times, perfectly revolting. Extreme words seem never extreme enough. So, we wait, ever anticipating even more extreme words. Words are sometimes light; they generally fail to do, but rather they say what ought to be done—usually by someone else.

However, words can also be uplifting and grand in both “the best of times and the worst of times.” And tell me, who is not buoyed by a casual onomatopoeic “boing” or “pitter-patter?” 

Lately, tossed about within politically ambitious circles, the words “revenge” and “retribution” are popular. These signal payback. But that would imply that someone was wronged. So if someone commits a crime and a jury of their peers convicts them, is it the convict’s place to seek revenge? What is the convict’s injury? This “retribution” laugher of an argument is now nearly the entire political platform of (what once was) the GOP. 

“I will get all of you for the (imaginary) wrongs you have done to me.” The notion that modern U.S. adults could convince themselves that this is a reasonable argument is apparently our sad reality. While the summer crickets sing, the convict conman rails and his true believers roar, enable him, and inch us toward a dark November confrontation. 

Perhaps there are special words to peacefully resolve this situation. If you know them, write them down and pass them on. In any case, on November 5, vote your conscience; often that works to clear the air and cure what ails us.

John Pace lives in Honesdale, PA.