Promise

A word is a promise. A word is a bond, my father used to say. So day on day I listen through a Tower of Babel screen of words that are empty, small and mean, devaluing words and masking words and lying words that ride the air like scraps of confetti here and there vanishing in the mists somewhere -- listening for the truthful word, the trust, the bond, the promising word, the word that when it does appear in even a hostile atmosphere, I will recognize when it is heard.