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Silenced
After years of silence over the abuse and oppression she endured, Stephanie Durden Edwards has claimed her voice and is speaking out.
Below is a powerful, beautiful poem she recently wrote about finding her voice. Stephanie, a talented writer and journalist, also blogs for The Peace Writer, a forum that provides a safe place and outlet for disaffected Mormons.
SILENCED
The pressure of your fingers over my mouth
Holding in my words
Turns them into daggers,
Gouging my throat raw.My words are dangerous.
You work hard to hold them back,
To force me to choke on them,
To keep me silent.But force turns to pain,
And pain into tears.
Tears turn to living water
And my soul is nurtured.One day my words escape
My fingers on a keyboard
And your hand over my mouth
Means nothing.My words become freedom.
Push you backwards
Into a heap in the corner
Where you sit stunned.Because I can scream,
And I can laugh and I can cry
And you cannot stop my words
From reaching far.Swirling up into the air,
Borne on the winds
Entangling with others’ words
Forging steel.For more about Stephanie, please visit her web site: www.stephaniedurdenedwards.com
Beautiful. I love this sentence:
One day my words escape
My fingers on a keyboard
And your hand over my mouth
Means nothing.
I think I will post it on my blog. Donna