Voice

You would shun me because I talk
in all manner of ways and tones,

My mouth open, lips and tongue in constant motion,
and even when they are at rest

The rest of my body is not.
I am speaking,

Loudly, brashly, softly and insistently;
always defiantly.

You would have me be quiet;
docile and meek, the most perfect doll,

But I am flesh.
These eyes do more than blink vapidly,

These lips have bigger, better things to do
than to stay sealed in smiling silence.

Are you listening?
Or are you too infuriated by my voice,

That I would dare to have one.

But I do.
Listen to it!