A Thread of Life Hangs from the Text

Some texts fool you.
They’re built to. Words
In strings and blocks
That make you think

You look right in
On life and lives
And death and joy
And pain—real things.

Those see-through words!
What tricks! They’re dead,
Or no more live
Than dirt words are.

The worst, small word
Hangs by a thread—
Not what it means,
But how it’s used.