The Power of One
By Kelly Korman

Do our bubbles protect us?
You would like to think so.
In reality, however,
They just let us pretend like we don’t know.

Like we don’t know that women are beaten,
That global warming may ruin us all.
Like we don’t know that kids are dying
From drinking too much alcohol.

Like we don’t know of the mutilation,
The torture people face each day
Like we don’t know of uncured diseases,
Like we don’t know we have a say.

We confine ourselves in our bubbles
To make it seem like everything is okay.
To make it seem like we cannot be affected
By something that is so far away.

But the truth is that it’s not far away at all,
It’s all coming right at you full force.
Do you think it’s so hard to contract a disease?
To overflow the seas?
To substitute heat for a breeze?
To get bombed from overseas?
To have everything you know in your tiny bubble seized
Because of actions you failed to take?

No one is asking you to save the world.
But your power is something you shouldn’t waste.
You can recycle, petition, whatever you like,
And I bet you’ll be shocked by all the issues you hadn’t faced.

Go teach a kid how to read
And try to exceed
The largest cancer fundraiser you’ve ever seen.
Make a petition for animal tests
Or get passionate and go on a quest
To spread awareness about a vaccine.

We live blessed to inhabit such a place of opportunity
That others only dream of at night.
If we just stop
Stop thinking about Abercrombie & Fitch
And whether our laptop has a glitch
And how we can strike it rich
And with whose place we’d like to switch
We might find
That we are stronger than that. We actually have some might.

We should have enough dignity
To see that something’s wrong
And not just ignore it
Like we have been doing for so long.

If you don’t clean your room every once in a while,
It accumulates into a mess.
It’s an aggravating way of living…
Your comforting home should not cause you distress.

And what about your home on the planet?
Do you not see it in disarray?
There is war and illiteracy and downright savagery
And do you really have nothing to say?