I am a mountain of arid timber,

with kindling that fills my every fissure,

surrounded by forests full of tinder.

A potential pyre, impossible to hinder,

that would burn with more than ample vigor

to leave the entire world a cinder.

And all I need to end my winter

is just one spark to light one splinter.

But without that spark I will not differ,

will not consume the forest that is hither.

I will merely decay without a whisper,

fated to forever wither.

When I was a child I wanted to be a doctor. It was always my dream to help other people and in my mind, that was the best way to do it. Throughout my life I have found that I do have great potential, but was not always necessarily in an environment that provoked it. Throughout my life, whenever I was beginning to be lead astray, someone always came along, pulled me back, reminded me what I was capable of, and set me on that same path to one day achieve my dream. In high school, it was my physics teacher, Mr. Ramunni. In college, it was my professor, Dr. Randy Boyle. And in life, it is my muse and one true love, Chelsie. This poem represents not only the great potential I believe I have, but the extreme importance of those little "sparks" that set me on my current path to greatness. Without them, I would not be where I am today and I never would have realized what I was truly capable of. Those sparks have made all the difference, without them I would be nothing.