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