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Writer's pictureFairy Tale Magazine

"Find Your Voice" by Lauren Reynolds

They plucked my crane feathers

They stole my seal skin

They clipped my angel’s wings

And burned my mermaid’s tail

 

Forced me to sit in a cubicle

Wear pencil skirts 

With my hands folded on my lap

And mask my rage with a smile.

 

To still my dancing feet,

to silence my sirens song

the baby in my lap

chains me in place.

 

Pin up your wildling hair

Cover your bare feet

Wear a suit, they tell me:

Shackle me with handbags, schedules, and high heel shoes.

 

Until I can no longer hear

The song of the sea

The voice of the trees

The whisper of sacred fire

 

Stripped of my weirdness 

Reshaped into their box

Of perfection and normalcy

And still they say I am not good enough

 

When did you lose your enchantment?

When did you cut out your tongue? 

And bind your feet?

And stop telling stories to your children?

 

When did your boldness become conformity?

When did love become a cage?

Who decided that all your stories 

Had already been told?

 

Voiceless, 

Dreamless,

Hopeless,

Alone.

 

Until a butterfly lands on your nose,

A whale swims in the sky

A dragon appears sleeping in the flowers 

And your child sings the ocean’s song 

 

Your dry lips quiver with notes

Your scarred feet tap

Your weary fingers itch to hold

Your hair’s tight coils sway loose

 

A dance, 

A story, 

a spell, 

a song:

 

Art explodes out of you

A whisper then a roaring shout

Your hair loose and wild as a storm

Your voice no longer silenced 

 

Until they are the ones forced to listen 

And take off their shoes

Strip their constraining ties and stockings 

And let their hair grow

 

Reveal their own voices:

The tears and regrets 

The silence and the shame

And the dreams that were taken 

 

Now find your Selkie skin,

Your Angel’s wings,

Your cloak of magic feathers,

Your mermaid’s tail

 

Create a new one

From paint,

From yarn,

From words

 

Your weapons and your tools:

Needle, 

brush 

and pen 

 

Your loyal comrades and friends:

Who’ve never left your side 

Merely waited for your sacred voice

To return 

Lauren Reynolds spends her days exploring old woods and spinning outrageous tales of faeries, pirates and evil queens and has published many poems and short stories. She lives in Maryland with her best friend and a Hellhound whom is in a long standing hostage negotiation for control of her lap due to a jealous rivalry with her laptop. She is a self-proclaimed mythology nut, anime junky and monster lover.


Image: "Dissolving Into Foam" by Edmund Dulac

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