I am born of witches
I am born of girls, teens, barely women
Girls hung and drowned and crushed for daring to stand out amongst a bleary backdrop of gray
Girls who said no to a man and suffered at his hand and the hand of the law that was there to ‘protect’
Girls, who did not deserve to die
I am born of witches
I am born of survivors
Women who stared death in the face and said ‘you’ll take me someday, but that day is not today’
Women who’s bodies conspired against them, who’s own flesh tried to kill them
Who stood up and said ‘no. you won’t win’, and turned the tables
Of women with swords and women with pens
Used for the same thing, to fight
I am born of survivors
I am born of anger, a thirst for revenge so deep and consuming that it shouldn’t have been sideline-able
Of pain and suffering caused by people who should have been refuge from that exact thing
A hurt that ran deep, deep enough to affect every little thing, every action and reaction
I was born with anger
I was born of love
Not love from my mother to my father or vice versa, but love from my mother to me
Love that keeps me warm, by handing me a second-hand winter coat
An old coat but a coat nonetheless
Love, that puts a roof over my head and bandaids on my knees when I trip and fall
Because I inherited Love’s clumsy genes
Love, who does not yell back but who listens
Love, who knows what it’s like to feel unheard but saves her voice for when it matters most
I am born of pain and love and sorrow
Of anger and hurt and so many things it would take hours to list them standing here
But I am also born of hope
Born with stardust in my lungs and my mother’s blood in my veins
Born with the spirits and ghosts of the women before me standing behind and beside me
I am born with purpose
Purpose to right the wrongs that I can, to change the world in whatever way I can
To scream with all the voices that have guided me and come before me
And to pass them on
Maybe not to my own daughter, but to every woman I meet
Every woman with her own spirits and anger and her ancestors beside
To pass on hope
I am born of anger and hope.