LOUD

Words rise to the roof of my mouth but instead of a triumphant shout they fall with a splat on the pavement below.

All I’ve ever known was how to pretend I was beautiful by shutting my mouth.

My words are ugly and invasive,

Taking up space in this world that is so overcrowded;

I would be so much more attractive if I could just learn how to bite my tongue.

I grew up being told not to speak unless spoken to.

When people introduced me they would cower when they described me as “loud”

Like my voice, like my opinion, was a bad thing.

The Prince fell in love with Ariel when all she could be was pretty and quiet, 

So I decided that I could never be a princess.

I could never be the gentle girl,

Whose benevolent voice drifted over the breeze and whispered sweet nothings into men’s ears;

All the right words, 

Everything tailored to fit the opinions of the people that she doesn’t even know.

I was always told that I didn’t know what I was talking about,

In an argument my points were always cut off as everyone falls in love with the sound of their own voice and forget that I have mine.

If quiet equals beauty,

If submission equals pretty,

I am the witch of this fairytale.

Keep all the princesses who don’t protest,

You’ve brainwashed them into believing that their words aren’t rich honey,

That their argument is invalid because they’re just being hormonal,

Or they’re just another one of those damn activists.

You will hear my opinion roaring through those biased earplugs that you conveniently keep in to filter out the truth you don’t want to admit.

I will never be able to master the art of “silence is golden,”

I call bullshit.

You say my silence is golden because you don’t want to admit that my words invalidate your bigoted beliefs,

But let me cut you down to size.

That pedestal you’ve built for yourself is made of broken bones,

I won’t be another victim.

If silence is golden, then why the hell are you still talking.