“ Power’s Many Faces” is a vivid, image-rich poem that contrasts four types of power through distinct, sensory-loaded stanzas, each with an AABB rhyme scheme and 8-10 syllables per line. Here’s a summary of its content and imagery:

1. Redeemed Servant-Led Power (Stanza 1): Depicts a humble, nurturing power as a “lantern sways in dawn’s soft veil,” weaving through souls like a “breeze so frail.” It heals the broken with gentle hands, culminating in a “glowing bloom, a starlight token,” symbolizing hope and kindness.
2. Unredeemed Greedy Power (Stanza 2): Portrays a destructive, selfish power with a “vulture’s glare in moonless dark,” tearing at wealth with a “ravenous spark.” It traps the weary in “rusted chains,” leaving a “hollow crown” that no soul inherits, evoking desolation.
3. Ego-Driven Power (Stanza 3): Illustrates vain, fleeting power as a “peacock prances on a throne of glass,” reflected in “mirrored walls” with a “fleeting flash.” It burns brightly but collapses into “ashes,” its “fleeting reign” forgotten, highlighting impermanence.
4. Listening to Lies Power (Stanza 4): Describes deceptive power as a “serpent coils in brambles thick with deceit,” whispering through mist where “truths retreat.” Its “crooked trail” with “thorns that sever” leads to a starless “night,” symbolizing betrayal and loss.
5. Closing Couplet: Summarizes the contrast: “Each power shines, distinct in shade, / One lifts the soul, three cut like blades,” emphasizing the uplifting nature of servant-led power against the destructive force of the others.

Redeemed servant led power,
A lantern sways in dawn’s soft veil,
It weaves through souls, a breeze so frail,
In gentle hands, it heals the broken,
Its glowing bloom, a starlight token.

Unredeemed greedy power,
A vulture’s glare in moonless dark,
It tears at wealth, a ravenous spark,
In rusted chains, it binds the spirit,
Its hollow crown, no soul shall inherit.

Ego-driven power,
A peacock prances on a throne of glass,
Its mirrored walls reflect a fleeting flash,
A blaze that roars, then falls to ashes,
Its fleeting reign, through time it crashes.

Listening to lies power,
A serpent coils in brambles thick with deceit,
It whispers through mist, where truths retreat,
Its crooked trail, with thorns that sever,
Leads hearts to night, where stars shine never.

Each power shines, distinct in shade,
One lifts the soul, three cut like blades.