Civilized Communication

by Grace M. Murray © 2006

I wonder how we came into agreement in the first place;

when the first grunt came to mean this rock. What spurred

the impulse to assign that object that sound; what compelled

the others to accept it as so? Another grunt became me,

another meant you, and a third signified us. When did that

fearful yowl denote them, the outsiders, not of the clan?

How did we decide that rock was for more than shaping tools

or planting and harvest, grinding grain, tanning pelts? How did

we determine that they, the outsiders, were enemies to be stricken a

blow with the very rock that provided our means of living? When did

we agree that rules of engagement were to protect our young, but not

theirs? When did we learn to communicate like civilized people?

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