Spotted Window

Phrases may rise and die
With the actions they name—
Dial the number, check

The oil, defrost the fridge.
Some die with the people
Who grew up using them.

Some linger, becoming
Linguistic skeuomorphs—
Drop a letter, open

A file, reach out to you.
Some become strange litter,
As dead as a door nail.

If you lived long enough,
It would be like watching
Raindrops on the window

As water clings then runs,
Patterns held together
By the inherent traits

Of their interactions,
Gravity, and tensions
Invisible to them.