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This poem is dedicated to the multi-capable and multi-passionate young women who are growing up in a world that wants
to define, use, capitalize, and shape their worth
As a young woman, I took it as a compliment when someone said I had potential.
It was usually bestowed upon me by someone “above” me - a boss, a teacher, a mentor.
They usually meant I had the ability to accomplish something great for others.
As a woman, I am done with “having potential.”
I do not want to be relegated to the future, better version of myself that someone else imagines for me.
I am the person in the present, living in my power.
I am potential in action.
I don’t want someone else’s vision of my potential. I don’t want to live by what they think is admirable.
I measure my own worth. If there is a yardstick to be used, I will craft it myself.
I do not want to be relegated to the imaginary place in someone’s head. I will not demean myself to a living ghost. Never fully seen. Never fully good enough.
If I give the bestowers of “potential” no mind, no credence, then I strip them of their power.
I claim my present. For I am potential in action.