The Power of Men

Power flows from men,
but not from their arms or hands
although

men with tireless muscles
take elevators down
into the bowels of the earth
and sweat for their bread,
mining the ore
to create steel, and

men stand outside great jaws of hell
in waves of heat and
showers of sparks
beating steel into hammers
to build the world. But

don’t confuse strength
with power.

Power flows from men,
but not from their minds
although

celebrated cerebral picadors
burst outdated thought bubbles,
forging new paradigms,
reconstructing equations,
setting pre-conceived notions on ear
while pulling solutions for tomorrow’s problems
out of their posteriors. But

don’t mistake brilliance
for power.

The power of men lies in their words,

so for two hundred fifty years
black men were lynched
for reading books
and white men were murdered
for teaching them how.

The power of men lies in their words,

so for two thousand years
would be leaders
have incinerated the books
they didn’t want anyone else to read.

The power of men lies in their words,

so even today there are writers
with prices on their heads,
living in hiding
and changing their names.

The power of men lies in their words,

so whenever a man speaks of peace
through civil disobedience
that man is marked,
hunted down
and killed. But

the evil of men lies in their lies,

so wrapped in God and
the flag of their choice
wicked men try
binding
the strong man, and
confusing
the wise man,
spinning cobwebs out of scriptures,
crying, “Truth!” but speaking lies,
claiming what’s yours is theirs,
they tell the world:

We’ve got ours,
and we’re going to keep it.

But they can’t keep it
unless we let them
because

the power of men lies in our words.

(published by Third Eye)