Living Out Loud

Beginning this day at 5:17 a.m.,
I will live out loud.
I will no longer simply think it,
I will say it.
I will move from shadows into sunlight,
not for prestige but for principle.
Living in response doesn’t work anymore.
The cloak of passivity no longer fits;
my voice is important, even if it
is only one voice.
I have hummed too long.
Now I will sing.
It is now 5:25 a.m. on this remarkable day.
Darkness still covers the earth,
but light will come.
I will welcome it, not with a smile
but a shout.
That’s me you hear in the distance.
Get used to it.