Refusing To Exist Quietly
I am from a community of women
who refuse to wilt like dying flowers,
who braid ropes from their body hair
and use it to pull each other up
I am from a community of women who rise
with the resilience of their thighs
Thighs that are strong enough
to crush mirrors and inspire poems,
thighs that double as
book holders, plate holders
and later hold lovers, or others
or whoever they want to
Thighs that know womanhood
is not defined between them
that femininity is not fragility
and a vagina is not a verdict
because biology is a highway
that doesn’t intersect with identity
I am from a community
who protest their own politics,
who dance without music
and sing without stigma
Who raise their voices like
rainbow flags, and forget how to fear
Maddie Godfrey
Image:- David Cox
For more of Maddie’s work, click here to head to her Facebook page.
