We are the word shakers,

the earthquakes,

breaking ground with the sounds

of a phrase from our mouths.

We are the protectors

of the mind, thinking up a rhyme

in the middle of the night, because we

can’t sleep again, can’t eat, getting thin, trying to define

who we really are. Our hands bleed ink on fresh

lines, our tongues dry, our fingers shake with another

hurricane

but we can still fight with a new line,

ignore the zits, the crossed eyes, pretending:

we’re not here, we can’t hear,

and turn a blind eye.

but we never were really blind, so we write.

Pen it in for a better foundation:

to stand against the injustice in the world

to help myself realize

I am more than just some girl.

I am the ever so powerful through my word.

I shake the Earth.

I am Earthquake.