An Invitation to Take Up Space

I take up space
For all the children
Who have been made to feel small
Be it by peers or parents.
I invite you
To prove them wrong.

I take up space
For the women
Who are not given access
To education
To freedom
To a voice.
For you, I speak my truth.

I take up space
For all the teenagers
Who want to not be seen
Cowering
Afraid of their own light.
I urge you
To own your fire.

I take up space
For the men and women
Too afraid to say no
living overflowing lives
with no room left
to chase what they love.

I take up space
for the victims
of sexual assault
as it is easy to move forward in fear
to follow the urge to disappear.
I beg of you
Allow yourself to be seen.

I take up space
for those who are demonized
for whom they choose to love.
Love knows only of intertwined souls
And beating hearts
Everything else is irrelevant.

I take up space
for the ones with quivering lips
fear in their chest
afraid of undressing their souls.
Be brave, sweet ones.

I take up space
for the ones who have tried on so many masks
that they have forgotten
who they really are.

I take up space
for the people around me
as it is only by walking fully in my self
that I can hold space
for others to do the same.

Author: Annabelle Blythe

Image: Global Panorama/Flickr

Editor: Emily Bartran