I Am a Poet!
written by: Waide Riddle
I am a poet that demands to be heard!
I am a poet who speaks to provoke and scandalize, seduce and celebrate.
My words alarm and at times even cause harm.
I am a poet who challenges the freedoms of expression.
My voice has been censored, my sentences banned, my paragraphs burned.
My work has been whispered about, honored, and in time, critiqued for relevance.
My letters stimulate educators to educate and students to analyze.
Classrooms, libraries, and museums honor me as if I were Sacred.
I am a poet that will be heard!
I am a poet who gives solace and comfort in times of devastation.
I am a poet who brings the Christian and Jew together, yet drives them apart by old translation and new interpretation.
My morning sonnets give peace.
My exclamation point creates threat.
My translations start war.
My contradictions inspire revolution.
I am a poet who sees beauty in tears and reason in anger.
I question salvation and believe in redemption.
I am a poet who is older than the first word drawn and younger than the last word spoken.
I am a poet and I will be heard!
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