They swirled about

in the ethereal "place",
great yawning clusters of them
in tight print and well-defined
columns,
armies of words flung
like javelins,
filled with fiery
argument, impassioned
pleas, here and there some
reasoned discourse, mountains
of information being thrown
back and forth
like baskets of earth in a dirt fight,
rivulets of consciousness running
in bizarre directions, and everywhere
tangential branches building funhouses
and magic mountains.
There were hundreds, perhaps
thousands of contestants at war,
some persisting in the bloodshed,
others making quick entrances
and faster exits.
After several hours
the constellation of language
grew cold, its members
spent or disinterested,
and its stars broke
away and became parts of new
galaxies of sound and fury
expending their energy in the
smiling vacuum.