This poem is about the need for us to speak up for the injustices we face and to never settle for anything that we might have the power to fix. We should speak out, not only for ourselves, but on behalf of any of those who suffer like we do right now, who suffered like us in the past or who might suffer in the future. This poem was inspired by the Me Too movement, which has inspired and imparted courage to countless women to share their stories so that society might pay attention and change.
Scream
Until your lungs burst
and your voice goes hoarse
Scream
From the top of mountains
Flying off the wings of eagles
Scream
Until your bones shatter
Until your heart bleeds under the screeching need for anyone to hear your immeasurable pain
Scream
Until your raw voice bleeds through the cracks of history
Scream
Long enough to fill the unwritten pages of your future
So that your descendants won’t have to
Scream for the heart-wrenching injustices of the past
Scream for the infinitesimally small chance that you can shift the unchangeable now
So that your voice and the ear-shattering voices of your brethren join in thundering harmony,
crystallizing into droplets of water that will one day dent the mountain of abuse
Scream for your grandparents
Scream for your grandchildren
Scream for yourself
But SCREAM.
And never stop.
