IT'S NOT A LUXURY

It’s not a luxury,
Audre Lorde once wrote.
It’s not.
I truly get it.
I know what it’s like to have
words which are fighting to come out
and speak their truth,
tell their story,
and ask to be heard,
and honored
respected,
and understood.
Being heard is not a luxury.
It is something we all want,
even if others do not understand,
we want to be heard,
to be recognized,
even if others recognize our truths
as different.
Poetry is a way of singing.
It is a way of sharing our heart,
our deepest thoughts,
and the truth we know
from our relationship
with the one who loves us
and knows us in a way
only poetry can communicate.