how some words
like to manifest
their inverse?
Like how
"fine" seems to mean
fifty—maybe
fifty one percent,
so doing "fine"
on that test means you've
technically failed it.
Or how "not bad"
is when your doctor calls
to say you're "alright,"
despite the persistence
of those same few
chronic ailments.
And then there's
extreme ones, like "holy"
and "sacred"
which taint with shame
and isolate
the things to which they refer;
and while we're on the subject,
let's not forget
"profane,"
which, historically speaking,
got misapplied
to anything
which was about
to become
very popular.
