Audre Lorde
I never knew you,
I don’t know you now.
I don’t know half of what would help me
speak my truth.
You tell me that my silence
will not protect me,
even though I have learned
it’s safer to hold my thoughts within.
I recognize, accept, and celebrate
our differences and the similarities
that make us sisters.
I want to be like you: powerful voice,
strength in vision.
You teach me it is not important
if I am afraid,
as long as I speak.
I am learning to define myself for myself,
not holding back for the world,
as I speak from the strength
of these words.