Has a phrase every come out of your mouth that by the time it was spoken you realized it was a phrase that one of your parents or grandparents had used regularly when you were growing up? This has happened to me from time to time: I'll spit out a saying that my mom would use when I was a kid and more than just that it actually sounds like she would say it, the phrasing and intonation.

Language is a learned ability. Not just what we say but also how we say it. About a year ago I was working on a series of poems. I was trying to figure out how to use line more effectively; how to break and also form the lines to more closely match the voice of my poetry. As I read some of my own poetry out loud to myself I heard something that wasn't necessarily part of my normal speaking voice. When I read my poems out loud I spoke deliberately and with a slow clarity. I spoke with some sort of authority and wonder that one speaks with when speaking of a great mystery that he or she has the privilege of speaking about.