A Poem on Three Potent Words

A Poem on Three Potent Words

Three words jumped out from the page as I looked
At Mrs. Johnston’s assignment, our last undertook
No long, drawn-out theses or million-paged books
Just a simple task, finding out which words can hook.

I saw zest, and soon, felt a whimsical glee
Course from head-top to toenail, electric in me
Bright-skins of lemons appeared in my head
And brought forth (a tone of apathy dead)
A story of passionate heroes who work
To reconstruct order to a town, berserk.
A smiling visage also enters my mind
Of some tireless protester (the feminine kind).
As she (some Ms. Rollins) tries hard to persuade
She resorts to strong tactics and, like lemonade,
Shocks readers with bombshells, and all in the vein
Of hoping to change some opinions to “sane.”
Though I don’t claim that my connotations are best
Such powerful images show great strength in “zest.”

The next word that flew off the page and alit
Was the word innovation.  Thus hist’ry was writ.
A word that’s so simple--yet evokes such results--
Has evolved man from ape and without it would halt
The progression of knowledge (and stasis would form).
This word has inspired men’s swerve from the norm.
Greats like Ben Franklin saw it and informed
The world of ideas all found in a storm.
Thoreau saw this word and decided to stray
Using peaceful protesting, quite odd in the day.
And a hundred years later we see the effects
Of avoiding a lot of carnal, cruel projects
With greats like a King and an Indian guide.
They all saw this word and our fates did align.

A last word called empathy rules my whole life,
Devours my consciousness—a hope against strife.
Doubtless, we humans forced mint of this word
Found the pathos that struck us for others quite blurred
With our own tempered lives.  Here a raucous mood formed,
Made hearts beat much faster.  Our faces got warm.
A word such as empathy is not just some talk
But a call to our instincts, an appeal that will shock.
Stoic men have been torn at the heart by such visions
Of helpless submissives, not quite torn by derision.
And all from ideas, imprinted from birth
By a word such as empathy, whose invaluable worth
Kept intact seven billion crude humans on earth
Certainly, such a word is huge cause for much mirth.

Each word aforementioned is not just some diction
Whose connotations cause strong tones and conviction.
They have truly changed history, and as such have power.
Their forceful ideas have made the world ours.