And suddenly it hits me like a punch in the gut
that I can BE all these beautiful things I read:
I can cut off my hair and wear fishnet stockings
and clomp around in big black boots and I
can stand on the stage of my life and shout
my love to the heavens because I CAN love
these things in my life and these parts of my soul
---they are irrevocable and I’d die without
my anger and my indignity and all my lunatic ravings

I may not be the most coherent but when I feel
I feel with every molecule of my being and I
radiate beauty and light even with the perfect
darkness in my heart and in my soul and I am so
wonderful and so decidedly FEMALE and
FEMINIST and damn proud of the magic
of my sex and my sexuality and my gender
and all the things that I have found myself to be
in and of and it’s an epiphany not a change
of heart but ever a realization, a coming into

the sun becoming a daughter of all the glorious
mothers who came before and I have never
been so sure of anything in my whole life
the world is mine to conquer and I will never,
ever let anyone take this ownership from me,

my rights and my worth and my dignity
I will not doubt myself again!
I will not ask why I am here-- I am here
to be a sister, to preach and share my
glorious womanhood-- I am alive and I
will never again regret that fact. I am the
leader, I am the fearless conquerer of my
own destiny, loud and shining bright.

And here it is and here I am, wonderful
at last.