What Strength Looks Like

Strength looks like a woman who can leave her abuser

A woman who can cry and fall apart

A child saying

“Why didn’t he choose us?”

Were we not good enough?

The world says strength is silent

Proud

Stoic

But let me tell you what strength really is

It’s the breaking down

Crying in the kitchen

In the car

Strength is loud

A steel rod that screams in the face of inequity

Injustice

Rape

Abuse

Violence

Fear

Strength sometimes squares it’s shoulders and says “not. fucking. today.”

But sometimes…

Sometimes it’s the quiet sobbing of a tired mama

Sometimes it’s the weight on the chest of a child who’s carrying too much fear

Sometimes it’s admitting that you can’t breathe and you need someone

Anyone

To help

Open the airways

Open their ears

To listen to the stories that made you strong