I Know That Words Are Powerful Poem by Niki Nicholas Nkuna

Thinking about what you said I lost sight of my aim
It’s all because you said, ‘You won’t make it.’
Those words, uttered intentionally or aimlessly
Contaminated my resolve
Expressing doubt on the vocal side
If only you did not verbalise your counter resolve
I wouldn’t have let the negative compass in my conscience
Pull my resolve back

I know that words are powerful
On the negative and on the positive side
My youth days were dominated by the everlasting battle
Against words of encouragement and discouragement
Said to me intentionally or unintentionally
My conscience is where I nurtured and battled
Against the repository of good and bad teachings

I know that words are powerful
I lived by what people said to me
From all walks of life
Beautiful and ugly, small and big,
The gluttony of my conscience is to blame
For gulping everything bitter and sweet
Guiding my actions irresponsibly
Hurting me long and short

I know that words are powerful
Thanks to God, that I found the conscience key
In the form of a stranger
Gold spewed out equally with worthless pebbles
My stranger thought me how to sift through the debris
And chose what to live by

I know that words are powerful
Words can kill, words can cure
Words can make you rich, words can make you poor
Words can make you change your lifestyle
And do bad or good things
Words are not merely about right or wrong

I know that words are powerful
We conduct our lives by them
Doing good things or bad things
We mess our lives by them and fix our lives by them
We live by them and die by them
Words are the beginning and the end of life
Our soul, our maker, our destroyer
We just can’t live without them, backward and forward!

N Nkuna, May 2012