I wrote this poem about Expression of Female Strength in January of 2013. After sharing with my mom she reminded me that it was 10 years to the day of my own sexual assault. Ten years more, in 2023 and I still feel comfort, radiate, and relate to the day this poem wrote me.

I’ve included photos of myself from that time. The one with the green scarf and the serious face is shortly after I wrote the poem and was desperately trying to communicate thee importance.

We Need Not Apologize

Many years and everyday
many moons and the fourth wave 
before finding the courage 
to speak up. To say,
“No.”

At first my voice trembled.
Now it echoes. 
But with every resonation 
comes another explanation. 

What we are calling
Women’s Liberation
is merely semantic for
his power of interrogation.

Erect a Boundary.
Protect my Space.
you just step closer
and slap my face.

Your ignorance shackles me.
I am a slave.
Just be quiet. That’s how good girls behave.

But I have learned to relax
To trust my intuition
and She is not bothered
by  your –situation.

When I hear Her voice,
When She shakes my core,
I listen.
I don’t second guess anymore. 

With curtness and clarity
my reaction is strong.
She radiates wrathfully.
She is never wrong. 

So what you feel when your taste that wrath
is a beautiful expression of my inner path.
She is the queen, the mother, and guard.

We, we need not apologize. 

Sarah Furey, January 2013