The Forbidden Word (Poetry)

I discovered it
printed almost too
faint to read clearly
in a tome listing
rare and obsolete

curiosities —
a word understood
in every language
and one so very
powerful its use

written or spoken
had been forever
universally
forbidden with no
exceptions — this word

deleted from all
literature and a
dire warning made known
the punishment for
those who broke the law

Such a time-worn threat
seemed quaint but harmless
jotting down the word
I underlined it ...
The sky didn’t fall