I raise my voice because I once kept secrets. 

I write for the little girls, the teen girls who keep secrets too

And for the grown who have the young girl inside of her

Crying 

This is for the one who promised she would never tell a soul

About the hands that caressed her without permission 

The lips that touched her without her wishing 

The man that penetrated her when she was only a girl 

not yet a woman 

I raise my voice because I was once afraid

Of the shame, 

And Embarrassment,  

I write for the mothers who don't know...

So that they may listen more closely

Observe more intently, 

And love more profoundly

I blow a kiss to the trauma and what it cost 

I blow a kiss because I want to 

Because the trauma does not define me

Because I have much to give

I raise my voice because I was once weak, but now I am strong. 

But not by my own accord

By the one who caught my tears, 

Who comforted me

I write because it is possible to be free

Because no forbidden touch could leave a mark so dark as to overshadow my purpose 

I write to tell you, what's past can't defeat you, it can only reside within if you allow it to 

I raise my voice for the perpetrators

Who think they will go unseen 

I forgive you, but your gross reflection will come to light

Because as my voice is raised, your ego will drown

The way I was silenced will be the way you will be shut down

Voices high. 

Despair is the outcome of what you've done

Child prostitutes, heroine, cocaine, suicide, obesity, cutting, prison, death, it's all because of you. 

Hate, war in homes, war in schools, lost souls, low self-esteem, that's you too. 

I raise my voice because I forgive my father who molested me, the nameless 22 year old who raped me when I was 15, and the boy I liked who took advantage of me when I was 18

the objectification of my body 

his temporary pleasure

Did they not know what was temporal for them would last forever?

Warriors soul 

Let my voice roar

against the demons who thought they could gain control

Over my voice, soul, and destiny

Let the devil know, The Lord bought me at a high price 

Sold out to Jesus 

Though I was robbed from an innocent trust, an innocent relationship,an  innocent childhood

He redeemed me

Though I learned to survive, 

escape, protect rather than play

He restored me

Knowing much before I had the chance to ask questions. 

Yet questions was all I had. 

I remember being 13. Why me? 

As I searched for answers, a voice came 

It wasn't my own, 

What I heard was a call. 

A connection so intimate,

Love for a child so desperate

The voice of my life-giver

My testimony is a story to be told

A voice to be heard

He showed me it would serve somebody 

Many bodies, 

Serve

Bodies 

Through my written words and the cracks in my speech 

Girls like me will listen 

Hope: inherited

As my weakness turns into courage, 

words that are written will never be forgotten 

And she will discover I raise my voice for her. So that she may find her own.