Untitled
Emma Highland
My entire life I have been
Searching for a voice. I have been
Shouting in my head,
Screaming out my fingertips, but
I break my lips
and whisper.
When the music is good, I dance,
And when the poetry hits
my chest like bullets
I pour out blood
On paper and give my life
To words.
My entire life I have been
Searching for a voice.
Somewhere
I must have dropped it
Dropped it when I was told
To be more ladylike;
Dropped when I was told
To censor words I only wanted to understand;
Dropped when I was told
To dress to be less distracting,
less noticed.
Dropped it when I was told to
Shut up about my damn opinions
Because I was too intense.
My entire life I have been
Searching for a voice,
for my voice.
I have paved my wandering with
Blood and ink
And finally, finally
I caught the courage to
turn around
And trace my way back.
One day
I'll find my voice.