Reading “Our Grandmothers,” a poem by Maya Angelou mentioned in Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown, I thought about my poet grandmother and wrote this poem:
“Unspoken”
Some things should not be spoken
People tell me
By the way they ignore me
As if they do not hear me
And this grieves me
So I shall speak of it
Even when people try to turn it
Twist it
So that I will not talk about it
Implying I need therapy
That something is wrong with me
For not leaving it behind
Like a wheel that is broken
These things unspoken
They say this to silence me
To quiet me
To control me
But I have been silenced all my life
So I will continue to speak of it
When it’s appropriate
When it’s inappropriate
Say those who want to hide it
Bury it
Like burying the dead
These unwelcome thoughts in our head
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