too many words

Some friends and colleagues that I’ve tried to cajole into reading my work have gently complained that it has too many words.

I said, “I will watch my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue;
I will set a curb on my mouth.”
Dumb and silent before the wicked,
I refrained from any speech.
But my sorrow increased;
my heart smoldered within me.
In my thoughts a fire blazed up,
and I broke into speech