I Am A Small Poem

• Lauren Hopkins, Grade 9, Kambala School for Girls
• Poetry
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'The Text Generation 2014' competition

I am a small poem on a peaceful page
Lying in the hands of the reader, what I say is no less that true
I can do damage, I can inspire rage
For the door of interpretation is open, and what I say to you
Is not unlike what the intelligent intellect has been claiming for a century
‘I can do better’, he says, ‘I can amend’
But for his speech he invites an entry
Of doubt’s opinion that we are ever so keen to apprehend
It is his opinion that blinds intelligent intellect
Shielding the world from the discoveries that could be made
The ideas that could be brought to the mind of the articulate
Little do we know we are suffocated by doubt, afraid
I am a small poem on a peaceful page
I can inspire damage, I can inspire change