Prompt / Saying No

Learning No

A poem of never-too-late

Fine artwork by Dennett

Learning words, I discovered NO
was not for me — for others, yes —
for me NO.

YES was my word, for everyone
for everything, in all circumstances,
I grimaced a YES.

For 40+ years of yeses,
for 40+ years of them over me,
YES was expected.

Until . . .

I learned NO.
A late-learner, a late-bloomer,
I stammered NO.

One time, two, a dozen,
felt the freedom that
only NO provides.

Felt the reclamation of me
in two letters — NO —
a word of liberty.

NO joined my vocabulary
like an urban dictionary addition,
giving me power —

Power I never knew before,
power to choose me over
you and them.

NO isn’t a child’s word,
but a word of maturity,
a word of self-determination.