“A picture is worth a thousand words”
But is a word worth a thousand pictures?
Close your eyes and I will transcribe
Words into pictures on the canvas of your mind
When I say “brown”, you may think of “sticks”
When I say “red,” you may think “bricks”
Or “fire trucks”, “flags”, even “stop signs”
Or the hues of red—you’ll see various kinds
When I say “green”, what do you see?
Do you see grass or the leaves on trees?
Do you see veggies in various bags?
Or the shadow of greed being cast by cash?
When I say “power”, what comes to mind?
Obama, Merkel, or Putin are fine
You may have thought Buffet, or Winfrey, or Gates
Are money and power intrinsically laced?
When I say “leader”, who do you see?
Is it Benazir Bhutto or AOC?
Michelle Obama or LeBron James?
Is it Jay-Z or even Beyoncé?
“Hero”: Whose faces materialize?
Various winners of the Nobel Peace Prize?
Gandhi, Einstein, Dr. King?
Rosa Parks? Susan B. Anthony?
What comes to mind when you hear “poverty”?
Is it more than Africa or DC?
Do you think West Virginia or do you think Flint?
Do you think the Dakotas? Are there other hints?
What about “love”? Tell me, what do you see?
Do you see someone dropping down to one knee?
Do you see hugs and hands intertwined?
Do you see it as abstract, not clearly defined ?
No matter what words I choose
One thing will remain true:
What one word may mean to me
May not be what it means to you
“A picture is worth a thousand words”
But a word is worth a thousand pictures
A single word can have you primed
And paint pictures on the canvas of your mind