freely spoken woman

The hardest part about freedom is that once your body learns it,
there’s no going back to pretending.

Now that I know what it feels like to choose without compromise,
I can’t pretend I don’t feel the cost of returning to old agreements.

Freedom asks me to stop negotiating with my body
just to keep the peace.

It asks me to notice when I’m saying yes
while my chest tightens,

Freedom asks for honesty without cruelty.

Freedom does not ask me to leave.
It asks me to stop leaving myself.

It asks me to rewrite partnership
and step put of the cage.

Freedom asks me to trust that my needs
are not threats to intimacy.
That my pleasure is not excessive.
That nourishment does not need consensus to be valid.

Freedom asks me to be seen in the act of choosing.

If you’re reading this and your chest feels tight,
that’s not coincidence.

Freedom asks a harder question now:

What would my life look like
if I refused to put myself back in a cage~
even when staying would be easier?

Freedom is asking me to choose what feeds me.
To carry it without apology.

Step out of the cage,

Even if you don’t know where you’re stepping yet.

You don’t have to answer this alone.

I hold space once a month in The Sound Room
for women learning how to hear themselves again.

When you’re ready, you’re welcome there.
freelyspokenwoman.org