society
you are allowed to be lovely
and important,
to speak up, and out, and convicted
from the same mouth that tends
to love and cradles lilies
it’s stunning when you let
why you’re here spill out of you
– butterflies rising
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we cannot curse the sky
if we stay and break bread
with boys
and their troubles
while men full of mountains and moons
are waiting with stories of
how far they’ve come
– butterflies rising
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i hope you know
you matter now
chosen by no one
belonging to yourself
i hope you go on
living in skin untouched by anything that your
sovereignty did not bless into your existence
and breathing air that holds no can’ts
and carries no words
of how a woman
should or should not be
– choices
– butterflies rising
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young boy
you will grow
they will tell you to be strong
they will teach you to be tough
i hope someone tells you to feel
i hope they teach you to be love
young man
grown man
let yourself be love
– butterflies rising
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let a woman
have her own worth.
let her value be found in who she is.
not in who she is to a man.
not in who she is to whom she supports,
or serves, or takes care of, or carries weight for.
not who she is in the context of anyone else’s story.
just who she is. as she is.
bare,
alone,
unburdened,
beautiful,
and worthy.
– butterflies rising
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i am allowed to have my own worth.
to find my value in who i am.
not in who i am to a man.
not in who i am to whom i support, or serve,
or take care of, or carry weight for.
not who i am in the context of
anyone else’s story.
just who i am, as i am…
bare, alone, unburdened, beautiful, and worthy.
– butterflies rising
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hatred feels thick,
and noisy,
as if it imposes and takes up space.
but i have to believe it’s just the absence of things…
like an emptiness raging against itself.
that it’s no substance of power.
that it doesn’t get to make a permanent home here.
and that those who harbor it are surely not powerful,
and that they don’t control this space.
that love can always fill the air.
and if those who are hellbent on hate
won’t grow, or change,
that awakened voices will bring revival
to this place.
no matter how loud or heavy that
hatred can rage, i have to believe it hasn’t won…
and that love will always
outnumber, overshadow, and overcome.
– butterflies rising
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we’re not
meant to be
color blind…
we’re meant to see
all this beauty,
all this texture,
all this life,
in every color,
and every kind
– butterflies rising
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