Self-empowerment - pipTalk Forums

How to Join	Member's Area	Private Library	Search	Sanctuary		Login
Main Forums	Discussion	Tech Talk	Mature Content	Archives	A home without a wall, Our haven without ends, A circle we all call Our Family of Friends!

WindWalker
Senior Member

since 2001-10-12

Posts 1218

0 posted 2008-09-11 12:59 PM

Self-empowerment

I didn’t know any better
so for years I took it –
having my intelligence
lowered to that of a dummy,
by those who I discovered
did not want me to understand,
to learn, to expand.

Their pleasure was in tormenting;
in making me feel inferior,
a "loser" in my own eyes.

From the school yard
to the work place,
always the same.

They needed to believe
in their intellectual superiority
within a constricted mental space
and I was the “dummy”
they used to beat up on.

One day, I’d had enough
and simply walked away
from all the bullshit:
enough of the baiting
and the lies that kept me
from walking further along
my own path to self-empowerment.

Everywhere I heard
the spirit of freedom
calling my name and laughing
and I never looked back.
To my own great surprise
I did not totter or weaken
but propelled myself
upon a creative process
that has become my life!

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis

since 2007-09-16

Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California

1 posted 2008-09-11 04:07 AM

What fools they must have been, WW. You must have always been the deep, spiritual person you are. That just doesn't happen overnight. Though some I knew as a young girl might be surprised at the kind of person I became. Surprised me. This is another (different) poem, more personal. A glimpse of the poet.
Ida

TheAnonDavid
Member

since 2008-08-28

Posts 237
UK

2 posted 2008-09-11 03:54 PM

As I read this poem I was reminded of Matthew Arnold's lines;

Resolve to be thyself and know that he
who finds himself loses his misery

Your poem expands so eloquently on those words.

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas

WTBAKELAR

Senior Member

since 2008-09-09

Posts 1089
Utah, USA

3 posted 2008-09-11 05:55 PM

You are not alone, I just read my life in your poetry. Keep strong on the paths that bring you happiness.

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

4 posted 2008-09-11 06:12 PM

Yo WindWalker,

That's the spirit Babe. Just keep walking on.

This is well expressed.

Bobby

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis

since 2005-11-07

Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

5 posted 2008-09-13 11:09 AM

Very good, and the answer to some of your questions about my friend, God.

- Owl

Midnitesun

Member Empyrean

since 2001-05-18

Posts 28647
Gaia

6 posted 2008-09-15 08:44 PM

To step away from the clutches of mental oppression and onto the path of personal freedom takes not only profound innate intelligence, but great inner strength as well. We all benefit when even one human shakes off any form of oppression.
Kudos, my friend.

	⇧ top of page ⇧
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.