Semantics
How many times have you tried
To get across a thought
Only to have semantics
Make it all for naught?
An idea about this or that
With heart in the right place
Only to have someone come
And your whole point debase?
Because they focused on one word
And chose to interpret
The meaning so that it would not
From their POV fit
I’m talking about simple words
Like love or hate or wealth
Ego, pride, humility
Forgiveness, joy and health
Semantics study meaning of
A solitary word
It focuses on just one piece
While whole idea’s unheard
It doesn’t make much sense to me
To zone in on one term
To argue over something whose
Definition’s firm
To lose the point one’s trying to make
To not capture the gist
To not let go and infer so
The idea isn’t missed
When semantics rear their head
This phrase I do anoint:
“What word would you like me to
Employ to make my point?
Since your definition of
The word that I have used
Is different from my own and
Has left you all confused
Tell me what word I should say
So we can move along
So I can get my point across
And you don’t get me wrong”
Usually that’s met with quite
A look of sheer confusion
Followed by a look that shows
They’ve come to one conclusion
That nitpicking on just one word
Distracts from something bigger
And my concession to oblige
Their ego pulls a trigger
That semantics are something
That don’t serve any good
An exercise in ego which
Distracts from thoughts that could
Enlighten or inspire or
Improve a state of mind
All because one can’t infer
How one word is defined
~Miro