They say a picture is worth a thousand words,

But they never elaborate on what those words are.

The concept of "words" sits on their tongues,

Waiting to be slung out of their mouths

And to be heard by those across the room,

The country, the world, the universe.

But what words?

What exactly are these proverbial "words"?

If we leave the sentiment at just "words" the picture's worth nothing at all.

Because, truth be told, a picture's worth a lot more than a thousand words.

Every person has one thousand new words,

In infinite new arrangements.

And words are so much more than little ink scratchings on a page

Or soundwaves bouncing aimlessly around us.

The way one speaks, the way one writes, says so much more about them

Than that they are literate.

The past is in those words.

The present is in those words.

The future is in those words.

In fact, those words might be different tomorrow than they were today.

A picture may sit dormant upon a museum wall,

But its observers are a constant flow of newness.

New bodies, new experiences, new emotions, new days and nights.

Why just say that a picture is worth a thousand words?

Tell me, what are your words?

I promise I'll tell you mine.