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QuillOak

Free Verse · Love

The Word

by The QuillOak Editors

1I say the word in shops and on the phone,

2to plumbers, waiters, the woman at the bank:

3my wife will call, my wife prefers the blue,

4and every time it is a small brass key

5I get to turn in public,

6and nobody else in the room

7knows it opens

8the whole house.

Original poem © QuillOak — personal sharing is permitted.

Quick facts

Poem
The Word
Poet
The QuillOak Editors
Length
8 lines
Form
Free Verse
Themes
Love, For Her

Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Original QuillOak text. Personal sharing is permitted; other reuse requires permission.

Author record
The QuillOak Editorstoday
Source record
QuillOak originalThe Word, authored for QuillOak by The Quillery
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 f597e812f4ed38d6…
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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