Her life to hold - a poem
Photo by Anita Austvika on Unsplash
“Just smile. Be nice. Don’t answer back!”
But what if I don’t agree?
What if that little girl I was
Just wanted her mind to be free?
What if that little girl only wished
To ask: “what, how, and why?”
But those questions were frowned upon,
And even thinking them made her shy.
As she grew and her body ripened,
New feelings stirred within.
Yet she and her friends were often told
Those feelings were a sin.
So when she met someone she loved,
She held back, afraid to leap,
Until one day she followed her heart
And woke from a long-induced sleep.
She realised not all she’d been taught
Was true, kind, or fair.
She opened her eyes and finally saw
Some words exist to scare...
To plant in fear, to tighten control -
Those lessons made no sense.
For she alone could choose what was right
Through her own clear lens.
Now that her mind was finally open,
As she had always longed to be,
She saw the world was not “as is,”
And she held the power to set herself free.
She looked back on the times she’d heard:
“Don’t think. Just do as I say!”
Now she knew they were only words,
And words she could disobey.
All she had to do was shake away
The rubbish she’d been told,
Reset her mind, and understand
Her life was hers to hold.
Note: This poem was inspired by the themes of ‘recalibration’ and ‘voice’ that were being explored in January and February. You can learn more about the monthly themes here.
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