Be Not Silent

Be not silent.
Do not sideline yourself
to the imagined power of another.
The silence you stand in begs you, 
answer.

Be silent only on your own terms,
for your own listening,
for hearing what you long to speak,
and when your own voice rises—
speak it.

When words inflate your chest,
heart beating ahead of your mind,
drumming a path for you, it is time.
Even as your palms sweat, know this—
your body does not fear the speaking,

It does not fear being heard.
As you stand trembling,
as you hover on the lip of voice—
all your body fears is that you might 
stay silent yet again.