no

Somewhere in the world, 

A child’s first word is no. 

The child’s first word is no 

And her parents think that 

something is wrong with her. 

Where did she even learn 

to say such a thing? 

No is rude. No is cruel. 

No is saying that consent 

comes before blood. 

No is a word that exists 

in the scars on the back 

of a little girls throat. 

No is the metaphorical 

graffiti made by a 

teen’s sharp tongue. 

No is the only cure for 

the curve of woman’s spine,

Only cure for all of the 

silence she has had to endure. 

No is putting up a wall where 

there used to be a sidewalk. 

No is telling your enemies 

that they cannot live 

in your house anymore. 

No is a ghost in your house, 

that is slamming doors 

and breaking mirrors. 

No means to survive 

even if you have to do it 

between clenched teeth. 

No means letting yourself 

be called narcissistic 

instead of a doormat. 

No is turning your heart 

into a crime scene before 

letting it become a grave. 

No means busting the window 

open on a submarine 

to drown out his voice. 

No means not touching the 

cup but drinking the poison 

straight from the bottle. 

No is setting yourself on fire 

so he cannot get any closer. 

No is realizing that our anger 

was the only part of us that 

knew what we deserved. 

No is a human right. 

No is the stardust that 

flows in our veins,

All of our bitch-faces, 

And our rolled eyes, 

And our stubbornness. 

No is is being charged 

with witchcraft and 

laughing as we burn. 

No means I am saying 

that I exist and that 

it is not a question. 

No means that If I am 

committing the crime of hubris 

By standing up when 

you want me on my knees,

Then I plead guilty, Judge. 

Go ahead and take me away.