New Way to See Them

Many people you know are words,
Which is to say that words are all

You know of many names you know.
You may know faces and voices

Of others you’ve never met, but
Them, too, you may know more as words.

You have opinions of people,
Strong opinions of people

Known mostly or only as words,
And of some people who exist

Only as words, not one moving
Image or portrait left of them.

There are people you know as words
Attributed to them, people

You know from some words about them,
People you know are fictional

Concoctions of words that you know
Can’t be them, but still you know them

And have opinions about them.
People being no more than words

In so many cases, it seems
Rude to say words can’t be people.