
She is quiet and shy
She hides her words
Behind a smile
And a nod
She is an observer
And a listener
She hears all the words
Even the ones not meant for her
She hears the meaning
In the tone
The words under the words
She sees the tired smiles
And the averted glances
She sees the tension
She hears the tension
She feels the tension
Like a hunger pang
Words withheld, words manipulated
She is a rule-follower
She does what she’s told
She makes no waves
She makes no trouble
She takes up no space
She is the peace-maker
The one in the middle
She has learned
Her words are for distracting, deflecting,
Placating, appeasing
Pacifying and soothing
Her words can make things smooth, settled
She has learned this can be a quiet power.
She has learned that it might be enough
She was a lover of words
Before she found her voice
She was a writer before
She was a speaker
She has secret poems
And stacks of journals
That take up space
Her written words are different
Her written words are
Secretly Wild
A Clandestine Unruly
An Unleashing
She is freer here
She uses SHOUTY CAPITALS
And the f-word
She uses her words for herself
She wishes her words for others
She sees years pass
She watches decades roll on
Still she writes
Her words are for herself
Her words can heal
Still it brings her comfort
Until
Until
She has written words piled on
Page after page after page
She has mountains of pages
Spilling out and over
And one day
She realized she no longer
Has to keep her words to herself
She opens her mouth
She finds her voice
She unleashes
Her words
The furious, the glorious
A staggering phenomenal stream
Her spoken words
Take up space too
She still writes
But
She speaks
And
She learns
She is powerful this way too