Absolutely NO

For the love of all that is holy

absolutely NO.

Not a pause.

Not a maybe.

Not the polite lie that wears a smile

while sharpening its knife.

NO

with the weight of history behind it.

NO

with the echo of every boundary

I was once too tired to defend.

This is not hesitation

this is judgment.

This is the door slammed

before the storm learns my name.

NO to your hunger.

NO to your entitlement dressed as need.

NO to the quiet erosion

you call compromise.

For the love of all that is holy

I have bled enough

to know the difference

between mercy and surrender.

NO is sacred.

NO is a spine snapping back into place.

NO is the prayer that saves me

when yes would have been a sin.

Say it clean.

Say it loud.

Say it like a bell in a burning church

calling everyone home.

Absolutely.

Unapologetically.

NO.

For the love of all that is holy, absolutely NO

the words detonate in the chest,  

a flare shot into the night  

to warn the trembling world  

that a boundary has finally learned to roar.

NO

like a door slammed so hard  

the hinges remember it for generations.  

NO

like a match struck in a dry forest,  

a bright refusal that refuses to apologize  

for burning.

For the love of all that is holy,  

for the love of the small and stubborn self  

that has knelt too long on gravel,  

for the love of the quiet creature inside  

who has swallowed storms without complaint

absolutely NO.

Let the syllables crack like thunder.  

Let them echo off the ribs.  

Let them be the first true prayer  

you ever spoke  

with your whole, unshaking spine.