Shout

by Laurie Halse Anderson

but she was my mother so I swallowed the lighter fluid and tilted my head until my face

became her mirror

cuz everyone is your friend when you’re thirteen and alone.

dark mountains and oceans of noise threatened to spill over if I opened my mouth, I was afraid I’d never stop screaming

The concrete keeps burning even after you wash it off your skin. The gift that keeps on giving, the death that keeps on deathing.

once broken, we’re easily hurt again, or worse the temptation is to hide behind shields, play defense, drown ourselves in sorrow or drug our way to haunted oblivion until death erases hope

Rich people scorn the way the poor buy lottery tickets, but what would you pay for an hour of untainted hope, of happiness unfettered? If the ticket had my mother’s name on it I’d dance across minefields for the chance.

Trying to figure out what you want to do, who you want to be, is messy as hell; the best anyone can hope for is to figure out the next step.

Most relationships come with expiration dates just like milk and bread. Some go sour before you can taste them.

too many grown-ups tell kids to follow their dreams like that’s going to get them somewhere Auntie Laurie says follow your nightmares instead cuz when you figure out what’s eating you alive you can slay it

Let the lawyers keep score, if you must let the court tally the points for conviction or against for six months in the county lockup six years in the federal pen Pain won’t be contained by bars or marks your scars deserve attention, too.

Censorship is the child of fear the father of ignorance and the desperate weapon of fascists everywhere.

the false innocence you render for them by censoring truth protects only you

Me to be stronger, you to stand taller, we to shout louder than they thought we could

Don’t. Sex is not a game where one person wins by destroying the other. The overpowering of resistance belongs only on the field where the center of attention is a football not Yourdamndick™.

We’re all born to fight but few are ever trained, instead they tell us “Be nice.”

We should teach our girls that snapping is OK, instead of waiting for someone else to break them.

our bodies are muddy rivers overflowing the banks to fertilize the fields, hurricaning oceans with the energy of time, tide, and galaxies, silver ice caps defying the sun’s feeble attempts to melt us we bleed and grow stronger

shame turned inside out is rage.

Don’t get raped cuz the jackasses and idiots will say that’s your fault, too.

This is not a resting bitch face This is a touch-me-and-die face

the ribbons loudly supported the survivors of the predatory priests and their families and everyone who loved them the ribbons shouted that they were not alone the ribbons announced that they were seen the ribbons demonstrated that they were heard the ribbons signaled revolution

stories activate, motivate, celebrate, cerebrate, snare our fates and share our great incarnations of hope thanks for listening.