Member-only story
Your Voice
Do not remove the clapper from the bell
Published in
Jan 12, 2021
Your voice is not a sound.
Your voice is you.
It is not air strumming your vocal cords,
slipping through your throat,
pummeling your lips.
Everything you hear or see or feel,
everything you learn and come to know
becomes your voice.
Packed in many layers, unique and responsive
to what hurts you, what pleases you,
from your first breath to your last.
Do not remove the clapper from the bell.
Let your voice ring out over the fields
to startle the sparrows and lift their wings.
Soar with them over the mountains
and return to the springs
of cold, clean water and meadow grass.
Cherish your voice.
Bid it welcome, clasp it tight,
then share it with the world.
Your voice is not a sound.
Your voice is you.
