Oh to Be a Girl

To be unaware of the broken glass at your feet, to leap straight through historic shards, bare, bold, free.

To hail from sugar, cayenne, and so much more than nice.

To envision a future beyond a shower of rice, to be shown you can be anything, to believe it, well beyond childhood dreams, to not be limited by “seem” and “ought to be,” to never “should” yourself to sleep.

To choose who you lie with, to say what you mean, to play on every fuckin’ team, to live without the constant urge to scream — to defer, no more, the long smoldering dream.

To belong anywhere, everywhere, to take your share without apology, to see nothing but possibilities, to live without the need to please.

To seize success as a birthright, to reach every height, climb every ladder, mountain, boulder, tree, to scale buildings, schools, corporations, organizations, with nothing but your wit, strength, compassion, grit.

To sit in the oval office, not as intern, no…

It’s your turn.

It’s your turn.

(Inspired by Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech)

Christy Everett is a writer living in Alaska. She writes a blog about her experiences as “a special-needs mama, learning from her micro-preemie son and typical daughter, one awkward step at a time.” This poem was originally published on her website, Following Elias, and is posted here with permission from Christy Everett. She posted an earlier article on TeensParentsTeachers: “On the Ground.”

The picture was photographed by Christy Everett.