Word Power

I love HBO GO!!  It is the coolest thing ever and gives me pause to be thankful for how far we have come in the world of technology.  I have had the chance to watch and re-watch episodes of Def Poets.  I am blessed.

If you have never had the pleasure of seeing this program you MUST watch each and every episode that you find on your pad as you scour the HBO programming.  You will be glad that you did, and it may even grab your attention in ways that you never thought possible. 

Poetry has always freaked me out.  I have never been very good at understanding what the poets are speaking about.  As I watch these young people share their words I am amazed and impacted by not only the words that they use, but the ways in which they use them.  I am envious…..using worlds in a way to impact others or to get others is a skill and it is a gift and it is something that I wish I were better at.  Maybe it is my age or the fact that I have read a lot more books since high school that I get what message the DEF POETS are trying to send. 

I am reminded how people’s persecution or victimization can give rise to a flurry of words that remind us that they are people too.

I am mindful of how people in crisis, yet who have somehow become invisible, need to have their story told.  They need to nation and the world to be aware that they struggle each and every day to fight back the flood waters, shortages of food, the killing power of disease, or the lack of even a basic education. Single mothers, deadbeat dads, drugs, and war…….and a whole lot more.

I am made aware that things are not as bad as they seem, yet sometimes they are even worse than we could have ever imagined……..yet we have no clue how to overcome these problems.  Child abuse, the growing economic gap between rich and poor,  the abuse of women whose only real sin is that they are women, and the realities of ethnic prejudice and discrimination. 

Politics…..or the lack thereof.  War…..and the need to find a different alternative.  Education….teaching kids how to read, write, and readying them for the future. Death for no reason and unexpected losses that changed us forever.  Making fun of just about everything you can think of.  Demanding that you THINK about the world, nation, state, city, or town that you live in.  The art of a wordsmith is crucial to our understanding of the world.  It may be even more important in getting us to sit up and take notice or even become a Def Poet ourselves.    

I am so impressed with the power of the word.  With the power and perspective of young people, who merely by the nature of their age, have a narrow perspective.  This is not a criticism, but a reality.  They are amazing and I am more and more impressed as I watch each segment over and over again.

We were taught that sticks and stones could break our bones but words could never hurt us.  I am pretty sure that the sticks and stones hurt like hell, but I am POSITIVE that words have hurt me a lot more often than any stick or stone ever did. They have made me feel inferior, hurt me deep down to the core of who and what I am and what I believe in, and affected me in ways that I carry with me to this day.   They have also given me strength when I have needed it and picked me up when I did not feel like getting out of bed.

I have used words too.  I have hurt others, made fun of for no good reason, or attacked what someone else believed in. They told me those words hurt.  I paid attention.  I apologize right here on the World Wide Web to anyone who has been impacted negatively by words that have come out of my mouth.     

I pay homage to those wordsmiths who know how to spin words in such a way to bring tears to my eyes, make me laugh out loud, and make me think about the world in a new and different way.

I honor DEF POETS everywhere and pray that I will meet a few more before I die!

Watch this shit……it is off the hook!!!!!!