The Power

by Pundit

Published June 10, 2010

In Poetry

The Power
to hate.
To turn
Brother against Brother,
Mother against Daughter,
Father against Son.

The Power
to oppress.
To imprison.
To enslave.
To treat others
as dirt.

The Power
to kill.
To take,
and never give back.

Hatred
Oppression
Murder

This is the Power.

This is religion.

This is God.

Comments & reviews · 6
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Pundit
Comment
Pundit commented Comment · Jun 1, 2011

Animekaratepup has written something that I would like to put as a companion piece:Why am I a Christian?

stephymercedes wrote a review Review · Jun 11, 2010

God wrote:Dear HBGirl4ever.
Starting every line of a poem with a capital letter is for amateurs and hacks.
there's something called poetic license, that states any poet may do whatever the hell he or she wishes with her poem. there is absolutely nothing wrong with not capitalizing every line of a poem.
I never do, and never will.


Not to stir anything, but, yes this is absolutely true. What they might teach you in high school (and even college sometimes) about writing structure, besides grammar, can be overlooked in the real world. Poems may manifest into anything, just look at some of Lewis Carol's stuff. Some of my poems aren't capitalized at all, or follow a regular flow or structure of a poem--which makes me hesitant to add them here, unfortunately.

Anyway, on the poem: the inconsistency of capitalizing takes the tone of the poem to a higher level, I believe. It shows an unbalance, and emotions dealing with hatred, oppression and otherwise can be unbalanced. It is blunt, it is in your face. However, the usage of "dung" seemed kinda weird--it made me giggle because I'm a child like that. Otherwise, very good stuff.

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God
Review
God wrote a review Review · Jun 11, 2010

Dear HBGirl4ever.
Starting every line of a poem with a capital letter is for amateurs and hacks.
there's something called poetic license, that states any poet may do whatever the hell he or she wishes with her poem. there is absolutely nothing wrong with not capitalizing every line of a poem.
I never do, and never will.

Dear James,
this is an interesting poem, and I believe it expresses a lot of bitterness, and emotion, but I am unsure of the source of said emotion.
I would make a couple small changes to the poem though,
namely, the word "dung" because of modern connotations tends not to be taken seriously.
a word like "dirt" would work much better there for your purpose.
an interesting view on the effects of religion.
care to explain.

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EmelyEverAfter Comment
EmelyEverAfter commented Comment · Jun 10, 2010

I like the feeling of this poem. It was strong. I love the 3 verse a lot. Good Job!
tThe way you expressed the hatred was really truthful.

User avatar
HBGirl4ever
Review
HBGirl4ever wrote a review Review · Jun 10, 2010

That is really powerful and beautiful. I actually really get what you're saying, which is more than I can say for other poems. You really caught every point of the human mind with hatred. It also left you thinking about what hate really is. But as always, you need to start every line of a poem with a capital letter, even if you're in the middle of a sentence. I loved it!



Very well; I hear; I admit, but I have a voice too, and for good or evil mine is the speech that cannot be silenced.
— Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness