Muted

Photo by: Erkan Utu

Muted in a world of speech

Testosterone off the throne

Today it’s hard, no chance to be

Expected or wait we don’t

Unless you struggled yet today

Dying on a mountain peak

That’s killing us slowly

Not all of us can fly

Maybe if I was shy

Life is not ready to hit

Guess you’re not ready to quit

So stand up, where are we?

Flash to a moment we wished for

Never quite ready to speak

When my turn comes I pass out

Exhausted from the pollution

Our world has fallen to

We are all afraid maybe

we need to fall asleep

hypnotized in which I apologize

That our freedoms is that of the past.

Life's not ready to hit

guess you’re not ready to quit

So Stand up, Where are we?

is this what we were really after?

In this moment in this sphere

Do we all really belong here?

What’s the agenda to the means

environmental class action or fleas

When the time is right we ride

structure your laughter

pure joy is currency

No more holding on if rights are dead.

Life’s not ready to hit

guess you’re not ready to quit

So Stand up, Where are we?

Cancelled in a society

Are we a box checked in a rule

set by the corporate greed.

Feel free to be

Be you be deep and get lost

With you hands held in the sky.

Life's not ready to hit

guess your not ready to quit

So Stand up, Where are we?

Cancelled in a society

It’s okay to be free.

Description

I wrote Muted a few years ago when I was struggling with wanting to have a voice but I was afraid to speak out for fear of judgment. This poem is about that fear of judgment. The fear of putting your voice out there and creating something new, innovative. About wanting to bring something to the world without the fear of being judged.

When we talk about being muted in a world of words, the poem addresses the fact we’re surrounded by the idea of freedom of speech and that we’re able to do anything, but struggling to do that very thing. There has been a female-led movement coming through in recent years addressing that it’s time for women to get past this insecurity and fear of having a voice, about having it mean something. However, there’s still this idea that unless you struggle, aka dying on a mountain peak, then it means you don’t have a good enough story to tell.

We’re always aware of this idea. The belief that we need to have a story or incredibly difficult times to overcome to have this perfect story, where people can understand that we're worth something, that we have the right to speak up, or when we have a God given gift that we are allowed to speak, instead of constantly feeling we’re not enough, or we haven’t earnt the right to speak up. That's truly what's killing us slowly, the fear of not being our true selves. Maybe not all of us can fly but that feeling of maybe if I was not afraid to just go for it and not be afraid of what others would think about me then you can start showing up for yourself. When we stand up, that’s when you start to find your voice. ‘Stand up’ can become an anthem to move forward with.

The poem also talks about how maybe you’re not always going to able to speak because you're just so exhausted by the mind pollution that comes from social media. About needing to be perfect, and faultless. This pressure can be too much and the bar becomes too high. Most people just need to fall asleep and/or reset the expectation of what others think about them to move forward.

It also comments on the idea that if you have a moment and fail to move on it, it can make you begin to question everything. Especially the underlying agendas of those who do get their voice heard and the money involved in that. Is it real or do they just have the money behind them to get their voice out there? Is it all fake? How are they getting through it all? It can make you feel helpless and even more resistant to speaking out.

In summary, the poem ends with the idea that your joy as the currency that fuels your ability to speak out. That it’s in your laughter, joy, passion, drive and love that will allow you to speak up, and move people enough to see and feel your passion. And in turn this will ignite your confidence to continue to speak out.

There’s will always be the threat of being cancelled in this society, the fear of saying something that might upset someone but in truth, you’ll always upset someone. It ends with you being free to share your story, to being you and getting lost in what you want to do with your hands held in the sky. Surrendering to what you want to do. Don’t care about getting cancelled, it’s more important to stand up and speak your truth, than to stay muted.

Someone in the world NEEDS to hear your story. So why not you?