MY POETRY MANIFESTO
I write because silence was never gentle with me.
I write because my body learned language before safety.
I refuse to make pain pretty for comfort.
I refuse to soften truth so it can be swallowed easier.
My poems are not written to be liked —
they are written to be felt.
I will speak of girlhood as it was:
watched, taken, congratulated, blamed.
I will use religion not as obedience
but as metaphor,
because even superior beings must answer questions.
I will write love that never touched me,
because longing still leaves fingerprints.
I will repeat myself when the world pretends it forgot.
I will name what others bury.
My poetry is not healing —
it is evidence.
And if my words make you uncomfortable,
remember:
they were born from something far worse.