Words

When you are young
People tell you,
“Sticks and stones may break your bones,
But words can never hurt you.”
Every time someone tells me that
I just turn to say,
“I would have to disagree.”
Because profanity and insults
Are just as painful
As a whip on the bare back of a sunburned slave.
It’s a stinging kind of feeling
That never really goes away
And stays with you long after the damage has been done.
They are memories to remember
Or scars to touch.
So you tell me,
Because I find it very hard to see,
How words don’t hurt at all.