Invitation

 

She danced to her heart but was told to stay still. She sang from her depths but was told to be quiet. She explored her own interests, but they gave her more chores. She shared something funny but was told she was rude. She spoke from her mind but was told she was wrong.

And finally, when she had no space to dance or sing or share herself or even breathe, she asked quietly for an invitation out, but no one heard, bc she was stuffed so deep inside her body.

She lived like this awhile, until one day she wondered if all the things constraining her were as real as they seemed. What if they were only beliefs? And not even hers?

So she tried moving her body past her constraints and she sang a song and the sound made her smile, and she wrote down her thoughts and they read like a poem, and abandoned the dishes and went for a walk.

And she felt the air in her lungs and it felt like life. And she realized she didn’t need an invitation to be herself—the invitation to live was being alive.

-JLK

 
Jessica Kane