Power
By AG
When I think of power, I envision someone
Who can move mountains
In a poor, famine country he can build a fountain
Giving people free blissful water
Someone when they see homeless
They don’t hesitate to give a quarter
To all the charity work of Doctors without Borders
Single mothers who still adopt children
Lending a bed, sheets, and covers and hot food in the oven.
A woman who does make up and hair.
A rape victim who refuse to stay quiet in her chair
Her story matters, so I do care
Men who built landscape every type of hard labor
To the doctors at St. Jude Hospitals
They’re the real saviors
Someone who gives without looking for return favors
To the great teachers whose presence demands attention
In a classroom
Even to juniors who sanitize and clean bathrooms
Power is giving, building, uplifting, motivating
To see power in one another
So let’s come together as sisters and brothers
Plants and stem, then blossom to a beautiful flower
Now that’s power
(Free Minds is power)
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AG,
I love your descriptions of power, and what makes someone truly powerful–values like compassion, bravery, and kindness. That, to me, is true power. Also, I loved your use of rhyming! Great poem.
-Mona
This poem immediately caught my eye because it makes reference to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital which is my charity of choice. I love how the author emphasizes the importance and power behind of all acts of service to others — doctors, teachers, janitors, foster mothers, everyone — we all have a role to play in elevating humanity. We are all part of a larger whole. I loved this poem.
Hi AG!
This poem was incredibly moving to me as a reader. I loved the way you described so many different ways that people can be truly powerful without actually having to be physically strong. You spread an important message about how power is not strength, it giving, building, uplifting and motivating each other. This poem flows very well and was a pleasure to read because of the strong use of language to spread a meaningful message. The power of your own words is so incredible, and when reading this it felt as if I could hear you speaking outside of the page. I loved the lines “To see power in one another – So let’s come together as sisters and brothers” because it tells about the importance of community and how people have more power when they are united. I truly hope you keep writing!
This poem demonstrates how power can be used and in this case, it is helping others. I love the last part of “to see power in one another, so let’s come together as sisters and brothers,” it symbolizes the strength we have to create change.
I really love how your poem tells a powerful story. You do a great job emphasizing that throughout the poem as well.
I very much enjoy your poem and its message. I would suggest altering the word “junior” to “janitor” so it makes more sense, But other than that wonderful job
Your poem includes a lot of meaningful words. I love the way each line flows with the next and how each forms a connection with one another.
“in a poor famine country” –> can famine be used as an adjective? Unless the author purposefully used it like so as a form of creatively license, perhaps another word can be used to emphasize the famine that plagues these countries.
“Someone when they see” –> because the author described that someone to be a singular “he,” they should stick with the pronoun “he” to maintain consistency.
“Even to juniors” –> perhaps you should rephrase it to “To even the juniors…” you had a pattern of starting every sentence with “To” breaking the pattern would break the strong message you are building
I really enjoyed reading this! It is touching to see someone appreciating every individual’s contribution. Keep writing positive things like this!
Wow, I really enjoyed this poem. I could tell it was written from the heart, and the words flowed nicely together. It was really touching and inspirational.
This is so touching, and true to life. If everyone were to give back to their communities, we would hold so much power. This poem itself holds so much power and emotions.
This poem itself holds a lot of power. The message that it entails is that we were to give back to the community, we could achieve so much power and peace within ourselves.
This was really great work and a very important message!
Very beautiful. i love the flow of the poem
AG, this is a beautiful poem. Power comes from empowering others. I think this is what makes humans feel alive – if you believe in a soul, empowering others and lending your support is what make that soul feel complete. I love that I can feel your compassion through your poetry. Keep writing. You are awesome.
This is such a beautiful vision of what true power is! Thank you for this poem!
AG- I really like how you defined power here; I feel like a lot of people associate power with wealth and status, but I think that your definition of power is the truest form.
Lovely and powerful poem! I like how you included many different interpretations of the idea of power. I would think that most people wouldn’t be able to consider the power in all those different people and situations you write about. Great insight and keep writing!
I really like your word choice and the messages you send! It’s powerful and gives concrete ideas for people to connect with. don’t feel so tied down to a simple rhyme scheme! Your words have a lot of depth and conceptual strength and would be better used in a less constrained format!
Hi AG,
Your poem is really inspiring and beautifully written! The limited use of punctuation works well in creating a dynamic flow that makes reading it a great experience. If you’d like, you could experiment more with punctuation in this poem or others to really help guide the reader in reading it the way you envision, but I think what you have here is extremely effective. I also love how the poem begins with power and circles back to end with it as well. The way you redefine power in this poem works really well!
It was a pleasure to read your poem!
I really resonated with your poem and live all the ways in which you see people claiming power for themselves. Power can be given but true power is from our actions and from within. I especially loved the line about single mothers who adopted since it is similar to my story of power. One thing to note about the poem is a possible typo… is it possible that you meant janitor instead of junior?
Regardless, great message and your voice is very strong.
I love the rhyming and rhythm of your poem! It makes it flow beautifully. The imagery and details you add are great too. The only little thing I would change would be to add an “s” at the end of the word refuse.
I love how your poem has such a strong rhythm and flow, I could almost hear someone speaking it as a read it!
This is a lovely poem. We are truly stronger, more powerful together. Every individual, including you has power to change the world. You seem like a nice, caring person. Stay strong, use your power for good.
I really loved this poem! The way you moved from someone who can “move mountains” to a seemingly smaller act like “lending a bed, sheets, and covers” was really powerful. There are so many different kinds of power a person can have, and the ones you pointed out matter so much. Reading about the different ways people can show power made me think about the people who’ve made an impact in my own life, so thank you for reminding me to appreciate them even more. Keep writing!
The poem looks good. I love your poetry style. Only suggestion I have for you is when you wrote, “To the great teachers whose presence demands attention
In a classroom” Try to put “in a classroom” on the same line with “to the great teachers whose presence demands attention”.
Wow… this poem is so moving. As I kept reading, I felt more and more motivated. Whoever you are, your words are power. Powerful enough to move emotions inside me. I would love to read more of your work. Keep it up, you are amazing!
Beautiful tribute to different types of power with a creative rhyme scheme!
This poem is an amazing in describing power because us human beings look at power as someone who powerful in a type of way but really it could be any one!
Power is acknowledging power. The line about a rape victim not sitting in her chair was so strong. Or mothers taking in more kids – that
Very powerful use of italics and rhyme scheme. I appreciate the emotion and meaningfulness behind the prose.
Hello. I like this poem’s message, that pretty much everyone has power.
Specifically, the power to do good, and with small acts of generosity folks
move plenty of mountains.
It is important to be reminded of this, for these days it can feel like
we’re all powerless and have no impact on anything.
Maybe someday we’ll all blossom into that beautiful flower.
AG, This poem is beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I loved the optimism present and the way you see power is inspiring to me. My favorite lines were “Power is giving, building, uplifting, motivating / To see power in one another”. In today’s world, your words are so needed. We all need to re-evaluate power and concepts like it in order to emphasize the uplifting of others. Powerful people have the capacity to build community and this poem shows that. Thank you.
This poem was such a powerful well written poem! Everything that you wrote had so much power that it could stand a lone in its own poem. So putting them all together really makes it a more deeper poem. Very nice work! Do not stop writing!!
I really enjoyed this piece of writing. I love how you mentioned power is to see power in one another and that puts a different perspective on the idea of power and is something I think many people should think about because power is not just about “who is most powerful” which now day I feel that is how everyone views the idea of power. This is a great piece and a great perspective.
Hi AG. I hope you’ve been having a good day. My name is Aditi Furtado, and I am a freshman in college. I came across your poem from Free Minds Book Club through my English class which focuses on community service learning.
Obviously, your poem has a very strong title which is definitely what turned my head and made me click on your poem to begin with. I very much appreciate the beginning of your poem where you created a false sense of the type of thing you think about when you think of power. This aside, I love how you matured the feeling of power to people who are compassionate and care for their community which is obviously very noble. In taking the time to put to paper all of the deeds that you think give people power shows your great sense of awareness which I commend you for.
I think you have such a great shift and you really know how to catch the attention of your readers which is a very important quality of a writer. I can’t wait to read any more pieces you have if you decide to put anymore out!
Hi,
I really enjoyed your poem. I encourage you to keep writing and share your inspiring work of positivity. I appreciate the optimistic view of power and of the world.
Personally, I feel as if what you’re describing is less of power, in the general sense, and more of an everyday hero. Power is not inherently linked with positivity. I know that this poem shows what you believe power is. But I think it would be interesting for you to bring in the element of those with negative power.
Thank you for sharing your work with me!
What I took from this poem is that everyone can grow and become a better person and mature in this world. I also took from this article that everyone has their own struggles and be grateful for what you have in this world because it can be taken or lost in a blink of an eye.
I really love your writing – it is so evocative, painting a picture that transports me into the lives and scenes you describe with such spare elegance. Keep writing, and keep cultivating your power.
Hi! My name is Noor, I’m a freshman at Wayne State. I am in an English course where we try to engage with the community beyond the university so that is how I came across your poem and I am so glad I did. Your poem is so beautifully written and I think it is such an amazing way to describe what power means. I especially found that this line “A rape victim who refuse to stay quiet in her chair. Her story matters, so I do care,” resonated with me and it fit in the poem very well. Nice job and I can’t wait to read more of your poetry!
Howdy AG. I am a student from a community-based class. Your poem was beautifully constructed and well thought out. I say this because it sets up hope—first by introducing a powerful entity that can move mountains, into common-folk, those considered to be powerful because they help others. Doctors, fountain builders, adopting mothers, teachers, everyone. It sets the theme that you do not have to be supernatural in order to possess power. This is more of advice than feedback, but what really solidifies an already amazing poem that captures so much spirit in its detail is to allow the last line to connect with the poem. Allow the reader to feel the flow of emotions you have set up, and then disconnect them with the final line. Think of it as a dream where you experience heavy emotions such as connecting to a lost family member… and POOF! You wake up. It is the sudden urge to crawl back into that dream to re-experience those feelings that differentiates the memorable dreams from the others. Allow for the “free minds is power” to join the poem. I would like to additionally point out that I began rereading your poem to re-experience it. I already saved it to my computer as a motivational reminder of how uplifting the world around me can be. I hope it is not too much to ask for you to write more—for all of us.
I think this poem is very thought provoking in todays society where people are so focused on themselves that we forget how important it is to help others. I love how you connected power to the idea of doing whats right or whats in the interest of others, often times people are very self-centered and corrupt when it comes to acquiring power.
I love that this poem focuses on defining power in everyday life, and in many peoples lives. It seems to represent gratitude for the small things, and the importance of them. I think that it recognizes beautifully all the small things which go into anyone’s daily life, they don’t have to have political influence or millions of dollars to make a change, just good intentions and actions.
AG, I found your poem and it immediately caught my attention. The thought and effort were visible behind every word. I could feel your emotion when reading this and see your visions of someone who can move mountains. You have a great message: to help those in need and our fellow man. It was amazing to take a look into the unsung heroes of our society as you stated: janitors, single mothers, and hard laborers in conjunction with our essential workers like doctors, and teachers. It is important to look at these heroes who don’t receive the recognition they deserve, and you have shined the spotlight on the everyday things they do. Your use of rhyming in this poem was extraordinary, through that small poetic element you were able to amplify the emotion and feeling behind your words. For example, “A rape victim who refuse to stay quiet in her chair Her story matters, so I do care”. This rhyme is a perfect use of emphasis on another important societal message. I loved your imagery at the end. I thought the comparison of a blooming flower to people uniting was very good. Thank you for sharing this poem, this piece is very inspiring. I support your messages to listen to the voices who need to be heard, to support and treat those who put others first as the heroes they are, and finally to empower, inspire, and unite as one people.
This is an incredibly powerful poem that really encapsulates the power in goodwill to other human beings. I especially love the way that it flows together almost like a song. The highlight for me was the emphasis on “I do care.” I hope you’re doing well, and thank you for sharing this with us.
-JF
This poem is so powerful. It is so well written with a great consistency of rhyming. It reads like a published poem by a professional. You can feel the emotion and the powerful call to see the humanity and goodness that people from all walks of life bring to the world. You should really consider performing you poetry at some point in the future.
That was very optimistic and well written! I loved all of the examples that you used because it was like you were personally thanking millions of people for displaying power and compassion. It was a very nice piece!
Yes! Coming together is power, and you have expressed this perfectly. Your poem is powerful, thought provoking and moving. Thank you!
Dear AG, this is such a moving poem! I love your creativity in showing us all the different ways we can be powerful. Keep writing and sharing your beautiful word. Sending you love, light, and power.
This poem is so beautiful, I felt the struggle and resilience the author was trying to convey. Fantastic choice of diction, the imagery was amazing, and the flow really made the whole piece pop and stand out. Keep up the great work, I can’t wait to hear more of what you have to say and observe
What’s up AG,
Your poem is very authentic and speaks volumes to the different perspectives and ecosystems that you believe power exist in. Keep writing because you are a great poet. Your poem is not only good, but a lot of groups can relate to it . I am also a poet/writer so I like to view others work as well and evaluate their works too . Always keep a pen and paper close and continue to write.
Peace and blessings,
Dear AG,
I really enjoyed your poem! I especially liked the different examples you provide of people, from all walks of life, doing powerful things to help others. These examples illustrate the point that anyone, if they have the desire, can affect positive change for others. Your call to action at the end, an invitation to your sisters and brothers, to join you in building a better community, a better world, was impactful and inspirational! One suggestion, change the word “junior” to “janitor”, which is the word I think you intended to write. Thank you for reminding me how far a simple act of kindness can travel. I look forward to reading more of your work, keep writing!!
Michelle
It’s really interesting to see your take on what power really is in day-to-day life, while it is easy to think of power being the influence people have on others, I much rather enjoy the way you chose to look at power. It takes certain people to be able to do the right thing no matter the situation and that is what a powerful person looks like, someone who will stand up and make the most of anything they are given. All in all it’s a meaningful message that I think more people should realize.
I like your definition of power a lot. How power is the ability to give to others who can’t and helping others who need it.
Hi AG,
I first want to start off by saying that the imagery in your poem was very capturing. It gave the poem the depth that was needed to understand the true care and compassion that should come with power. You stated that power is giving, building, uplifting, and motivating. I agree and to have power even in situations that seem powerless can be empowering. I say this because you put that a single mother who adopts. Though some may see a single mother as powerless, she persisted and showed her power. She opened her doors and came together to show that she care and even more understands. I feel that we must understand that power comes from more than having privilege and money. Power can come from the mark you leave on your community, by giving and building up those in our community and coming together to seek change and better living. You wrote that the real saviors are those who give without looking for something in return and I agree. I feel when you help someone, you should not be doing it for your benefit. When I personally help others, I do it because I know how it feels to need help and not know where to go or who to ask. Then having to find something to give in return for their help can make their situation more stressful. I feel it is important for us to show that when you need help, you don’t have to have something to give in return for you being in need. I enjoyed your poem and I feel it gave a great perspective on power within communities that we so often overlook.
–
McKenzie
AG – I really like your view of power. The power of people giving, not for reward, just giving. The inner power to confront, speak out on the ravages of being raped. The power it brings to see all people as powerful in their work.
Yours is a very powerful poem. Thank you, Temp
Well said. That’s a vision of power I can rally behind, and the kind of power I want people to strive for.
Power is everywhere and your poem was here to remind me just that. You made me realize that power is much more greater than we think. You have turning something scary to me into something that I am starting to see in everybody. You have turned this poem into a teaching moment for me and you most certainly do have power.
AG,
I love your poem! It had me engaged the whole time. I especially love your reference to single mothers that still adopt and those that don’t hesitate to give to the homeless. You are a wonderful writer; keep going!
I love the message in this. Those who give without the expectation of receiving something in return hold so much power and potential for impact in our communities. You never know the struggles of the person next to you and showing them kindness without wanting something in return is special. Thank you for sharing.
I thoroughly enjoyed your poem about the concept of power. This poem made me feel inspired to do good, and the way you portrayed power made me feel joyful. Sometimes power has such a demeaning and condescending connotation. This poem pushed me to think of power in a positive light. I think the line in the middle of the poem “so I do care” is an impactful shift in the poem’s energy. It emphasizes how important power can be. Thank you for sharing and I hope you continue to write poetry.
I really enjoyed this poem. We usually have this idea that power is associated with glory, fame, riches, and control. You change that definition and give it a brighter and better meaning. I also really like this idea of “moving mountains.” Moving mountains doesn’t have to be a big and grand gesture. It can be as simple as giving a quarter or giving someone clean water. It’s funny because those are things that we sometimes don’t think twice about doing, but we also don’t realize how powerful those actions can be. They can really change someone’s life, and that’s powerful.
I loved this poem because it perfectly illustrates how strength is much more than superficial or even literal definition of the word. I like to consider myself strong just because I can do things like lift heavy weights, but compared to doing things like helping others just for the sake of helping or vocalizing your story when you have been victimized take a level of strength that I’m not sure I possess. I salute to you for writing this and I give my salute to those that continue to display their strength!
I really loved how you say that anyone can be a hero and have an impact on the world in a positive and meaningful way and that there is power in coming together as a community, because I think that’s so crucial.
This poem itself is power. There is power in the way that you speak about what power means to you; where you find power throughout your life. This has opened my eyes to the power that all of us may possess, including myself. Including you. Thank you so much for sharing these powerful words with me and everyone else on this beautiful site. You are so correct, Free Minds is power and you are proof of that.
I love your descriptions of power. You also used words to describe different types of power. Heroic power is one you used to describe what most thinks think is power. This poem digs deep down and talks about the real heroes with power in this world. Excellent job.
I really enjoyed reading this poem. I loved how you incorporated so many different ways that people have power. Everyone has power in them, but just in different ways, and I liked how you emphasized that. I also enjoyed the last sentence of the poem where you compared power to a flower. It was a great use of rhyming, and also a good comparison with power. Keep up the great work, and stay strong! Your hard work will pay off.
Hi AG, your writing is so inspiring. I think your take on power is something so refreshing and valuable. You included everyone in some way in this poem, especially those who are often forgotten or seen as the lowest of us. But you uplifted them and made them feel seen with this piece and it’s incredible! Keep writing, you are doing great things.
Your poem flourishes describing how suggestive power is. You highlight how true power can been shown in the smallest ways. Starting with the stander view of power than shifting to the under rate powerful moments that happen almost everyday, depicts the true view of power so well.
I really liked how you discussed so many various ways that somebody might be truly powerful without necessarily being physically strong. The phrase “to see power in one another, so let’s come together as sisters and brothers” was one of my favorites since it represents the strength we have to bring about change. Additionally, you do an excellent job of highlighting that all throughout the poem.
I really like your poem. I was watching a documentary this morning about society and how different it is all over the world and I feel like a lot of what’s missing in our society is how we treat people based on our power. What if everybody always gave what they could instead of being greedy, then the world could be more kind. Power is different to everybody but I definitely think that you should spread your feelings and this poem with people because it could make someone do something nice for someone else today.
It would be something if someone could move mountains with power. The examples you give too are the powers to do good. Single mothers who still adopt children reminds us that there are still good people in the world today who care about it. Every story matters in this world. It’s great that the doctors get the honor that thru deserve and the same with teachers too. All the ing adjectives of power are amazing. That’s the complete package, we as plants and stem coming together and then blossoming to a beautiful flower. I’m so glad that Free Minds is and has power for you and that your poetry including your mind is free AG!
I think you have the perfect definition as to what power is in this poem. And your poem acts as a call to action for others to use the their power no matter how small to uplift and help those around them. Power truly is working to help motivate and cultivate others selflessly. I think that your poem is beautiful and really insightful as to how we can all make a difference. Keep up the great work, and I hope to read more from you in the future!
I’m speechless in all honesty. This poem is amazing, capturing, empowering, caring, real, and uplifting. The poem overall flows with such beauty, from line to line it captures the reader. When I bounced from each line I came to realize I didn’t want it to end. The way you see the world is outstanding. We have those people that wouldn’t think twice to give the homeless money. The men and women that are doing the hard labor for our world and simply what I believe to be the most thankless job is being a mother or father. Raising children is the most powerful job we have in this world. Our generations will change this world as a whole and raising them is the most beautiful kind of power. Just wow overall, keep writing your work is beautiful!