

Sarah K.
My message is for women to fix each other’s crowns instead of competing as if there is only one to win.
I don’t care what you think, getting my nails done and wearing heels really is immediately empowering for me. However, beyond the surface, my words make me feel the most powerful. I found the elixir of life that many look for. My words will live longer than my human lifespan. It’s a way to express myself and contrary to popular beliefs, showing your feelings is a strength, not a weakness.
As a kid moving from country to country every few years, I became frustrated at not being able to communicate properly with others. I became afraid I wasn’t being understood and in turn went silent and angry, especially when my parents split. Then, I was introduced to poetry and more specifically spoken word. I was able to stand in from of a crowd and express myself with words that I wrote. I found great success in a contest called “Poetry Out Loud” and went to nationals in Washington D.C. to compete both in 2016 and 2017.
I feel most powerful when I can speak out about hard topics in order to help others. As someone who knows what it’s like to be silent, I now happily volunteer as an advocate for all those people that haven’t found their voices yet. I write about things I’ve experienced like divorce, rape, death, and yes, sometimes even life. Most recently, as I just finished high school, I wrote a women empowerment poem based on an event that we all know of: homecoming. My message is for women to fix each other’s crowns instead of competing as if there is only one to win.
I Had a Dream
Let me introduce myself,
My name is Sarah Katsiyiannis,
Oh, you want me to spell that for you?
Of course, S-A-R-A-H,
There you go!
And yes, the H is silent,
But beware because I am not!
My name means princess,
But that night,
At homecoming,
They wanted to change that meaning
To queen.
Like all girls do,
I had dreams.
Last night in fact,
I dreamt
I stood next to King Henry the 8th
Just one of the next to be added to the list,
What was my fate…
“Divorced, beheaded, died,
Divorced, beheaded, survived.”
No, and me?
Burned alive.
It’s too hot up here,
In this spotlight.
I’m not going to be queen
For king’s like him.
I’ll be queen for all you
Queen bees, queen c’s, queen d’s, queen e’s
F this school tradition.
Those little girls looking up to us
Need to see how females rule.
There is a reason why
We are the most powerful piece in chess.
Is there a reason you announce
The king’s name first
And the queen’s last?
Isn’t the rule, ladies first?
Yes, ‘your majesty’ will do.
No more giving head,
Off with it!
Bow to your knees for me.
Oh, I’m sorry, where’s my manners,
bow to your knees pleaseeee!
So, you want to pick me?
As queen?
Should I feel honored that you
Put me on a pedestal
Held up by all my sisters’
Crushed self esteem?
I had a dream
Where we weren’t in constant contest
With our best friends,
Where we didn’t feel
The absence of our own talents
With the presence of other people’s successes.
I had a dream, signed Martin Luther Queen.