FANNING THE FLAMES
I was heavy
Weighed down
And buried by Judgment
Unintentional but hurtful just the same
Expectations of who I should be
As a daughter
As a Catholic
As a wife
As a colleague
By men
Fearful, yet domineering
Oh, the irony
That your insecurity has fueled my power
Fed the tiny coals that the women in my life
Have protected
Fanned them into flames
Fed the fire in my belly
Ignited my strength and resolve
Given birth to my voice
I am woman.
I liberate myself.
Hear me thunder!
And growl, and rage, and shout
I will no longer be judged, dismissed, hidden—
or silenced.
March hare rides a bike to twinkle town court
The rest of the bunnies are a bit jealous of Mort.
He thinks he’s all that, and I guess maybe he is.
Said a caramel-eating rabbit named Oldie McGizz.
Mort hears the chatter, and smiles deep and wide.
He has self-confidence, which means he likes himself inside.
He keeps pedaling, all the way to twinkle town court.
Thinking to himself, I am the most amazing Mort.
He has got obstinate disorder whispered the wind
Too stubborn to change; will not even begin.
His brothers and sisters have changed to yellow and red.
He says he will remain green until the day he is dead.
The forest wind is getting louder, angry now you see.
Wanting the leaf to understand how autumn should be.
He has an individual life plan, share the root of the tree.
He wants to remain green as the bile in his knee.
They accommodated him but tried to coax him to switch colors.
He dropped off in autumn wind with his sisters and brothers.
But he was still a solid green, which was his ultimate goal.
A spring leaf who refused to transmogrify his self-confident soul.
Picture this
Meeting with forty-three women
Two men
Six at each table
An extra squeezed in to one.
Picture this
I always sit by the loudest and proudest
The most egotistical
The one who always gladly shouts out every answer
Sometimes wrong
Sometimes right
Does not count the wrong ones.
Even if we laugh
Picture this
Loud and proud at another table
Selects herself to be spokesperson
Suddenly realizes she has done the task incorrectly
Turns on a co-worker and yells
“YOU SAT THERE AND WATCHED ME DO THIS ALL WRONG!”
Not once, but twice. Screamer's face turns tomato.
Nervous laughter.
Except me.
I was laughing flat out
Loud and proud
Great for any meeting
I'm not afraid of the
depth of the sorrows. I'm afraid of
the moment that I suffered.
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