Sotto Voce

Sotto Voce

Who do I think I am?

What do I have to say?

Who would listen to me?

Who do I think I am?

So many things – daughter, mother, wife, grandmother.
         lover, learner, leader.
         seeker, survivor,
         
I am filled with – verve, vim, vibrancy, and vinegar
                   compassion, complacency, commitment
                   loneliness, longing

What do I have to say?
         I wonder. I weep. I whisper.
         I love. I laugh. I listen. I live.
         I am!

And who will listen?
         I send my voice to the universe,
         softly at first, afraid of being heard,
         yet longing to speak and be heard

         My voice will rise to the sky,
         slowly and gently mingling with the stars
         gaining strength with the wind

         I will be heard
         and my voice will link
         with the voices of others
         who speak to the sky and stars,
         other voices sent to the universe.