On Words That Cannot Be Pronounced

The name of a certain minute just after dawn
has no letters at all:
do you remember that minute?

There is a word with no vowels
that strangles anyone who tries to pronounce it.
There is a five-syllable word that will summon an angel
who will teach the summoner all wisdom;
the first four syllables, alas,
summon a demon who immediately
destroys the summoner.
There are words (and for each person
these are different) that act as Gödel sentences,
distracting the mind to silence.

There are the words I need to say to you.


—Robert Dawson