POWER IS POWER BY THATO RANNANA

GENRE: POETRY TITLE: POWER IS POWER WRITER: THATO RANNANA, LESOTHO REVIEWER: TANYARADZWA NONHLANHLA LISA MTEMA, ZIMBABWE
 
The poet uses metaphorical descriptions of how strong a human being can be despite all the challenges they may face in this first life. The poet is so fond of nature-related imagery and even describes a human life starting so beautifully when he refers, "beauty from ashes." It is only sad that the ground on which the beautiful flower sprouts is rocky and filled with harshness as shown by her choice of words "desert", "rocks", and "rivers". It’s impressive how he describes the bold character through personified images of "a tree that never dries," and "house built on rocks."
 
In the second stanza, the persona describes how these challenges are meant to strengthen us. He refers to the "fire" as a blessing to keep and the "lions" and "snakes" as challenges that we learn to live with and laugh at. It's even amazing how the last line was able to refer to the excessive challenges of life as a "poison that we drink but never kills us." In literal terms, this is what the musician Kelly Clarkson sang, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"
 
The last stanza expresses the power we have to conquer. The power that helps us to rise because we live in it. The poem is relatable to real-life challenges and no matter what the poet says, we are strong because we have to." It is that power that helps us live and the water that also quenched our thirst (challenges).