I Speak in the Shadows ( for Arising Star Girls)


 I shape my thoughts in quiet corners,

Polish my words until they are ready to fly.

Each idea I hold is a fragile bridge

From my mind to the world, trembling with risk.


Today, even I hesitate to speak the truth,

For every word, every sketch, every stroke

Can ignite storms that chase me into silence.


I remember those who dared before me-

Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou-

Their visions clashed with rage and fear,

Yet they lived on in words, in courage, in ink.


I paint, I write, I craft my voice,

Even when threats roar and shadows stretch long.

Expression is not just art to me;

It is my breath, my heartbeat, my defiance.


Communities watch me, judge me, condemn me,

Moral police in shadows, measuring every gesture.

Even a smile, a gentle touch, a shared thought

Becomes for me an act of courage, a quiet revolt.


Some of my sparks burn and fade,

Yet I continue where conscience refuses to bow.

Even in fear’s cold grip,

I rise, holding my pen, my brush, my voice.


I see the temple painter saving a child,

The secret kisses, the whispered words-

All remind me that rebellion lives in small acts,

And every expression finds a way to survive.


My freedom of thought is a fragile flame,

Threatened by chains, by tyranny, by rage,

Yet I nurture it in my heart,

In my mind that dares to dream, to question, to see.


So let the world rage, let the storms come,

I will speak, I will create, I will endure.

For my ideas will persist beyond walls and fear,

And my truth will live, through shadow, flame, and time.

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