Words hurt a lot more than sticks and stones. I know that people say it isn’t true but lets face it. They’re lying! Words hurt a great deal more than those superficial wounds that tear your flesh. Those wounds heal. They actually heal rather quickly. What? A few weeks and there is nothing left of most of those cuts, scraps, and bruises. Maybe there is a scar. But it’s just a scar. It doesn’t hurt anymore. Maybe it’s rather ugly to look at but the physical torment subsides. The pain is gone shortly after the initial run in with the sharp corner or the knife. A moment of blinding pain and than what? Nothing usually. Sometimes there are slight twinges of pain here and there for a few days afterward. Those don’t last long though. Honestly, aren’t those pains easier to deal with than those razor sharp words you launch at me? I think they are. Maybe that’s just me. Words. Just words. Some are four letters long. Others are polysyllabic or even compound. It doesn’t really matter how long the words are. They hurt just the same. Those dagger like words rip the air and collide with my ears. The preliminary impact usually knocks me back a bit. I am proud of myself though because I am always able to catch myself before I fall. I can stand strong in the face of your verbal onslaught. Well, at least I can stand strong long enough to make you think I am perfectly all right. Those words still come flying at me. They clock in at an amazing 88 miles per hour. Charging at my brain. Tearing it up with their teeth. Shredding my self-confidence. Grating my pride and leveling my emotional barriers. Damn you and those words you use to stab my heart. Those words that leave me in pieces at your feet. Words do hurt. They hurt more than any kind of physical pain. Sticks and stones may break my bones. But your words will always break my heart.