Still I Write Poem by Affiah Odhiambo

I used to write
openly, freely, purely me
Then life rushed in
Forcing a pause
I forgot what writing was,
Now I write
to remember who I am
Beneath the layers I shed to be loved.
I write
because silence became my survival,
but now
To find my voice again
Is how I can be alive again
I write
to slow down again,
to breathe like I once did,
to hold space
for the girl in me who shrunk
And the woman remembering her throne
I write
so my healing can have a name
so others might find theirs too.
Because I know
Like Maya I must rise
Still I write.