To those who speak

This poem was written in response to hearing our advocacy story.

To those who speak

I see you, woven in these words –

a chorus of courage,

a hymn of defiance,

a love letter to those who came before

and to those who walk beside.

Your voices rise,

breaking through the hush

of silence lives,

of stories buried deep;

of truths too long denied.

You name the fraud,

not within yourselves –

but in the systems

that built walls instead of bridges

that told you to disappear.

Yet here we stand –

visible, unshaken

carving space with every breath

with every story shared,

with every step towards tomorrow.

And I?
I hear you

I honour you
I carry your words forward
a ripple reaching shore.