quiet isn’t consent

i learned
life liberty
the pursuit of happiness
before i learned
how often a promise
can hesitate

no one mentioned
how often you’d have to prove
you deserved the words

i’ve learned on my own
there are places 
where i soften my voice
where i let people assume
something easier about me

it works
and that makes me angry
in a quiet way

no one taught me that part
of the experiment

i don’t think the declaration lied
i think it promised too soon,
before it understood
how selective belief can be

equality sounds simple
until you ask
who gets to move through a room
unchallenged

liberty feels clean
until it depends
on who’s watching

happiness
is the strangest part
something you’re told to chase
but never slow down for

maybe the experiment isn’t failing
maybe it’s just honest
about what it still refuses
to give freely

i want to believe
those words were written
for breath
for bodies
for voices like mine

no one told me
they might not be.