Ashes Don't Lie—#PrideOnThePage Day 13
for the layered fires they could not extinguish—for the ones who rise still—a poem
#PrideOnThePage Day 13 (June 13): ASHES
✨Ashes don’t lie. Tell the story they couldn’t burn.✨ What truth remains, even after the worst? What ember refuses to go out? Some stories survive by changing shape. This is your chance to write from what remains: charred, glowing, true.
Thank to everybody who has participated so far:
ASHES DON’T LIE
(for the layered fires they could not extinguish—for the ones who rise still)
ashes of a girlhood unchosen roles assigned before breath was drawn lessons stitched in skin: know your place, be grateful, be small i burned them. still the smoke threads the marrow — inheritance in gestures, in silences at the table. yet here i stand. the ember remembers. ashes of the holy books and white-robed philosophers who claimed the right to name the world — and themselves its rulers i burned them. their pages flared, their words linger still — in laws, in classrooms, in the turn of a stranger’s voice. yet here i speak. the ember remembers. ashes of borders drawn in ink and war of skin weighed, ranked, sold profit built on broken backs i burned them. yet the trade shifts shape — ships to data, chains to debt. yet here i build. the ember remembers. ashes of patriarchy — old, insistent its roots beneath empire, beneath family its leaves in every glance that weighs a body’s worth i burned them. yet the roots run deep — they flower in boardrooms, in homes, in law. yet here i love. the ember remembers. ashes of the science that split mind from body that claimed the right to define my flesh, my truth to speak over breath it could not feel i burned them. i no longer permit them to assume authority over my body, masked as knowledge. yet here i move. the ember remembers. ashes of generational trauma grief unspoken, fear repeated roles replayed breath after breath i burned them. yet they rise — in nerves, in bones, in reflex and pause. yet here i choose. the ember remembers. ashes of homophobia and transphobia bodies policed, loves erased laughter turned to blade i burned them. yet the cold breath lingers — in laws, in looks, in hands that write rejection. yet here i name. the ember remembers. ashes of sexism and misogyny power bartered for safety brilliance dimmed to shield the fragile i burned them. yet the smoke drifts — through paychecks, through headlines, through half-told stories. yet here i shine. the ember remembers. ashes of racism and colorism hierarchies carved into skin beauty twisted to serve control i burned them. yet the gaze weighs heavy — in hiring rooms, in wards, in scripts of worth. yet here i rise. the ember remembers. ashes of ableism bodies labeled broken, minds dismissed worth measured in speed, shape, function i burned them. yet the scales persist — access denied, pity dressed as care. yet here i live. the ember remembers. ashes of body shaming forms judged against false ideals humanity narrowed to surface and size i burned them. yet the mirror repeats the old tongue — on screens, in whispers, in poisoned praise. yet here i am. the ember remembers. and you — who carry ashes in your bones and breath who rose through fields salted with grief you are not their dust. you are not erased. you are the ember they could not claim. you burn steady, seen or unseen. they will call it ending — yet i have stood in this silence before. the ember remembers. the ember remains.
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The repetition of "the ember remembers" and "I burned them" throughout is so powerful. A chant of existence, of refusing to die out.
I love this poem. It stirs hope and quiet defiance, sharing the warmth from the embers of your heart and the community you are building. Thank you for sharing