Like Me

I know about the small nick in your tongue
Near your right back molar

I know how that nick was created

Be nice
Be likable

You swallowed this belief thinking it was a vitamin
But it was a drug
A drug that made you sick

That made truth retreat
and your voice so small
It can’t be heard by the human ear
Not even your own

You were such a dutiful girl
Head down
Work hard
Don’t complain

No one told you
You can’t make an impact
You can’t make change
and
be liked

No one likes a truth teller

You’re trying to stop taking the drug
But coming down is hard

Likeability with a nice girl chaser
has been your cocktail for so so very long

You vibrate with the fear of the unknown
Sweating the drug from your pores
Feeling the tingle of being that woman
The unlikable troublemaker

What will it mean?

It will mean

You are free

Tell the truth, straighten your spine
So the little girls behind you don’t have to be drugged like you

They will tell you

“You catch more bees with honey”
Tell them you’re allergic to bees

Stop apologizing

I know
It hurts not to be liked
They designed it that way
So you would be dependent, unsure and always other-focused

What no one tells you is
that when you stop worrying about being liked
you can truly be loved
You can save yourself and all of the others

And are you liked, by the way?
Or is your compliance just appreciated?

You have unlikable women to thank
for all of the freedoms you enjoy

Women who said, “No. Not on my watch.”

Likeability can be a useful tool
When you know how to employ it
But be careful
It’s intent was self-immolation

You ask
“Can’t I be liked and make change?”

No one has yet

Will it be painful to stop taking the poison?
Yes, my love

It will fill you with fear
So much fear

But then
Then
You’ll be free

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