words of redemption

April is national poetry month. This is an old one, but it always reminds me just how powerfully words can impact and empower. I work with an organization whose goal is to empower young people by helping them give voice to their words. We work with inner city schools to help these kids tell their tales. I wrote an article for our local paper promoting our big yearly fund raiser. And as I was trying to think what to write to best capture what it is we do, I started to think about the the people who always showed up for our open mic night, our monthly fund raiser, and realized, all I had to do was tell their story and I had my story. After writing the article, this poem came to me. The last stanza came first, because I didn't add her story, for obvious reasons, I didn't want to cause her any harm. She's shy and very reserved. I was honored to be trusted with her story. Anyway, this poem is about the impact words have made on the lives of a few. Words are indeed powerful!

• Page 1 - words of redemption"I work with an organization..."