Past Tense

Searching the past for the present
The etymology of who we are
Perhaps a hint of why
In what was said and how
To whom to what end
This word versus that word
Carefully chosen in the mind's syntax
Or thrown wantonly into the air
Built from all the conversations
Held with others or in solitude
Maybe it was easier before words
When all the time we knew
Was the sun moving across the sky