Spring Cleaning

As I was walking down the street,
quite routinely at first, I began to think.
(Always a mistake, I assure you.)
What if we all suddenly forgot how to speak?
With language no longer an option
we'd have to change the way we lived our lives.
Think of the dark, utter, complete silence.
No longer would we be subjected to political debates,
presidential speeches or reality television.
We could finally turn off our TV's,
go for a walk, maybe even read a book (God forbid!)
We could clear our houses and minds of years of accumulated clutter,
throw away old boxes and sweaters
along with the knowledge of all the vowel sounds.
Put "e" next to that torn cashmere over there
and leave "i" where it sits in that box of old scarves.
That word you could never pronounce just right
goes out with the bag of aluminum cans.
Throw them both in the recycling bin.
They're someone else's problem now.
Those hundreds of boring conversations and angry verbal fights
can go through the shredder with the unwanted credit card offer
and last month's bank statement.
Make sure not to put them all in at once,
Wouldn't want it to get jammed up...