I want to learn to cackle

I want to learn to cackle

To laugh in that uninhibited way

That only a woman who has

Blithely discarded the chains

Of expectation can

I want to cackle at the body shamers

At those who think I have no place

In this magnificent world

Because I haven't birthed a human.

I want to cackle in their face

I want to cackle at capitalism

And unrealistic beauty standards

And the needless violence of men

I want to cackle like a witch

Like a woman liberated

I want to cackle at the leering eyes

And at the eyes filled with pity

And at the arch, judgemental eyes

I want to cackle at my own eyes

When they only seek to see my flaws

For what is a witch

But a woman come into her power

Freed from the crushing expectations

Of a society obsessed with controlling

All that is feminine

Oh yes I long to cackle

To dance around a fire

To mix hearty soups in a cauldron

To gather herbs in the forest

To whisper to trees and flowers

What bliss there could be

Living a life like that

Of peace and calm reflection

Of picking up the shattered pieces

And creating a beautiful mosaic

Of finding the person I could be

Underneath the hopes and wishes

The sadness and the trying to fit in

The bending and then breaking.

But first, I must learn to cackle.