CELEBRATION

I know your name and I defy you!
You want to own me.
You take the words and twist them in my mouth
So that those who don’t know me mistake me for a fool.
You take the joy from my voice so that it is flat and lifeless.
“You sound like you’ve been drinking,” shows
It is more than my words that aren’t understood.
    I sing.

You invite others to join in your mockery of me,
Pulling the ground from me so I fall like a child.
And hurt like one.
You bind my legs like heavy, wet strands of seaweed.
You jerk my feet
So that it takes every bit of concentration I have
To not look like a puppet.
    I dance.

You grab the pencil from my hand when I try to write
And fling it across the room.
You turn the bowl of soup upside down,
And shatter the glass of water on the floor.
You take the sponge from my hand
And pitch it behind the stove.

I had a husband once.
He didn’t want to be seen with me and my drop foot.
I stumbled. I looked like a cripple.
He walked six feet ahead of me.
Stupid feet is not a stupid mind.
You twist and crumple my body,
But not my spirit.
    I run.

I curse you for every dream you have stolen,
Every wish you have denied,
Every life you have destroyed.
I claim the fight,
Knowing that some day you might win
But only if I stop fighting.

Even as I write, I can feel you,
Stealing into my hands, my mind.
You are an unwelcome guest who crept into my life
So many years ago, and stayed,
    Betraying me.

You may win someday
But not today…Today is mine,
    I fight.

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