I want my words to have worth like William.

With magical adjectives that travel through time 

To conjure a landscape 

And portray a peace

So perfectly 

They reach across centuries.

 

I want my words to empower like Maya.

With certainty and strength to inflate the hearts

And sway the hips of a million women.

I want to reach her passion, wear her confidence, 

And

Dare to share 

Her phenomenon.

 

I want my words to dance like Megan.

With rhythm and pace that catch the mood.

Authentic and articulate.

I want to share her eloquent urgency,

And use compassionate wit

To challenge, 

Convert,

Resist.

 

I want the cunning of cummings

Whose playful poems create pictures 

Irreverent with grammar and propriety.

Effortlessly entertaining,

Yet so perceptive and sensitive

They reveal our hidden yearning.

 

I want Emily’s honesty. 

To be brave enough to voice

The most private 

With words sharp enough

To penetrate the protected places. 

Applying balm to the bruised.

 

I want to 

Use words as dressings 

To soothe, protect and bind.

To show that despite our necessary bravado, 

We are alike

We belong

We are noticed and understood.