I had many powerful words traveling through my mind tonight. My inspiration came from the students in a poetry class I co-teach that is run by the Youth Dreamers and Wide Angle. The truth and beauty of my students' words amazed me, the power behind them impressed me.  These were words that need to be honored. Words that sometimes come out raw and bare all that the speaker feels. At the moment words like these are spoken authentic communication occurs and all one can do as observer is be grateful for the experience of listening and of sharing the meaning, thoughts, and emotions that the words embody. There is something so incredibly powerful about words, about writing and speaking them. About making a sound. It is at heart how we as human beings express ourselves. We make sounds, whether language or not, it is those sounds that express who we are, what we are, how and what we feel. In order to be powerful in order to be leaders we must use our words, we must lay our souls bare with that which we speak. It is why poetry, language, how to use words are so important to teach our youth. Their confidence in their words is their confidence in themselves, and it is this confidence that will give them the humble arrogance to imagine something different and create it. It is power of words that allow us to envision a future, communicate it to others, and move toward it.