I will write today

Not because of you

But in spite of you

Just so you know

You didn’t get your way

 

I will write about success 

Survival

And all the rest

I will share secrets

With the page

 

And together we will age

We shall meld into one

My page and I

So that when I die

There will be evidence

 

My truth

Will be my only defence

I did not buckle under duress—

I blew you away

While holding my breath

 

No big, dramatic exit

Simply a boundary

Held strong

A fence built from courage

Signed

 

Beyond here

You

Do not

Belong. 

Clare Kinnaird, 2025.