Word Salad

“At the end of the day… When it’s all said and done…”
Clichés march in a line like a well-rehearsed pun.
“The bottom line is…” That sounds so divine,
Yet somehow it wanders and never draws a line.

“Needless to say…” but they say it once more.
“It goes without saying…” adds sayings galore.
“That being said…”  and “Having said that…”
Connect clichés like a silly tail-chasing cat.

“Be that as it may…” What a marvelous phrase.
It dances around in a foggy wordiness haze.
It nods and it bows, but it never will stay
To tell you exactly what it meant to say.

If you remove words and the meaning doesn’t change,
It’s fluff in a costume—just a filler made strange.
You have a cliché hiding with glitter and flair—
A phrase that’s dressed up but is going nowhere.

Now stir them together and what do you get?
A salad of words that you’ll want to forget—
A toss of “At the end…” and “The bottom line is…”
With dressing of whys, maybes, thises, and thatses.

“At the end of the day…” said with a confident tone,
“The bottom line is…” although no bottom is shown,
“This policy raises…” when we don’t really have news,
“A number of questions…” yet we often can’t choose.

“And moving forward,” we proudly declare,
“We’ll address them with clarity somewhere.”
But the clarity lies hidden in a faraway nook,
While meaning was lost in the words it took.

So say what you mean with a clear, steady voice.
Let truth lead your words with precision and choice.
For words that are simple and honest and true
Will speak much more clearly than fluff will do.