tempest
“When women were birds, we knew otherwise. We knew our greatest freedom was in taking flight at night, when we could steal the heavenly darkness for ourselves, navigating through the intelligence of stars and the constellations of our own making in the delight and terror of our uncertainty.” – Terry Tempest Williams
i roared for the first time when
i was ready and i was never told by other women
to adjust my volume or tone, brazen though they were
i felt as though i was singing operettas with the birds
roar we
would / will / did for we knew
that it was death otherwise
survival depended on the we
the us the tribe we knew
the joy bravery fire of our
soul was knowing the greatest
winged freedom
was letting go of what was
and taking in
what was new taking
on the fight earning the flight
after being stared at
groped in the night
stolen from ourselves when
forced into a yes position we
screamed no as loud as we could
don’t you steal
me from me the
heartbeat in our ears heavenly
proof that we were alive in the darkness
being told to smile for
you not for ourselves
the maps torn from us while navigating
the stormy seas through
fog saltwater grief the
lighthouse of our intelligence
was lit by the fires of
those stars
who came before us and
commanded that we roar the
battle cry of our hearts to the constellations
touching our fingertips to the dust of
stars that burned out long before our
lives bloomed forth our own
phoenix sparking from ashes free making
filth dirt soot rise in
the throats of the
patriarchy to our delight
our womanly delight and
never again to kneel under the weight of terror
that is born of
ignorance fear silence our
voices will not be choked by uncertainty