The Creative Tightrope
The Responsibility of Writers and Readers
We walk a tightrope
Between creation and destruction
With each stroke of the pen
Or click of the keyboard
We can change the world
For better or worse
Is it up to us how our words are taken?
Must we forever self-censor
To prevent Armageddon?
They say the pen is mightier than the sword
But does that make it our responsibility
Must we be careful what we say
Or is it their responsibility
To take our words with a pinch of salt
To interpret our words the best they can
Should we be the acrobats
Or should the readers?
* * *
Author’s Note: This poem came out of a conversation that I had with Rick Henry Christopher on my story, “A Dystopia of Our Own Design”. You can find the link to the article and to the great Rick Henry Christopher’s profile below.
About the Creator
Stephanie Hoogstad
With a BA in English and MSc in Creative Writing, writing is my life. I have edited and ghost written for years with some published stories and poems of my own.
Learn more about me: thewritersscrapbin.com
Support my writing: Patreon
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Comments (3)
'To interpret our words the best they can Should we be the acrobats Or should the readers?' I so much like these lines, this says it all.
People and their worldviews are so different. You can never make everyone happy and I believe it’s the reader’s burden to make their own sense out of writer’s works.
I'm on the fence in this. I don't want people to hurt because of words I wrote... But at the same time, if I'm writing true words and reflecting on how someone acted- and that hurts them, it's on them.. If they wanted me to write them as better characters, they would have acted accordingly. Just my opinion.