Poetry and Empowerment

I had an old account on Associated Content where I could write content and get a little bit of a residual. I haven't logged into it for an eon or so, but just so happened to do so during this glorious month of celebrating poetry. The assignment I saw upon logging into the account was to write a poem about the eighties. Dare I admit that I remember that decade? I was young. Really, I was, at least during the onset of that strange generation.

Anyway, you can read the poem here:

Robots and Punk Rockers
National Poetry Month submission on a poem about the 80's.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1634605/robots_and_punk_rockers.html

It's no masterpiece, but I enjoyed the challenge.

On another note, I am often intrigued by the connections we weave between non-related instances in our lives. Is a comment or a chance meeting simply coincidence, or is it fate? Quite a few moons ago, I decided my mission in life was to unearth the creative consciousness of humanity by proliferating the popularity of poetry. I thought lyrics, poems, (real) hip-hop, and performance poetry all scraped at the bones of us in a way that connected us through the similarity of our differences. Today I met a woman who was some sort of life-coach or consultant who contracted her seminars to help those in need empower themselves. She used poetry as a tool for power. She believed knowledge is a high power, and she had a holistic approach to coaching people toward self-sufficiency by combining the spiritual, the mental, and the physical aspect of our whole beings. While she was probably giving me and my co-workers a sort of sales-pitch for her consulting business, I was hugely impressed. She had very powerful eyes, and I swore there was meaning in the way she spoke.

Her presence was alluring, and she resonated in me a solid, composed sort of wisdom. She definitely seemed like a strong woman who had a real purpose, even if she did drive around in a Lexus and was tapping into my non-profit agency as a potential customer.

While I digressed a wee bit, I was stunned at the fact that poetry lent itself toward the empowerment of others in her experience. It moved people, even to the point of pulling from their beings tears.

What was the meaning in that, I wonder. Shall I ponder the prospect of initiating a poetry release for folks once again?

Happy Poetry Month!