Still We Stand

Blasts of pressure mount, force our lower backs
to brace and bend to find and hold stability. Still
we stand. Demands of cruelly gendered plans
laid out to map our lives, nearly topple us into
drowning waters at our feet. Yet still, we
stand. We will define ourselves way beyond
stereotypes, social conditioning. In our sturdy
shoes, still we stand. Shaded from shame we
will absorb the light, claim our own futures.
In our Goddess Danú's cherished name, still
we stand, ready to rebalance, tall, until we
do not need to lean against borrowed walls.