Can you handle my truth?

You want me quiet–soft, revised

You want me

Shrunk

Polished

Palatable

Something you can swallow

You mistaken my certainty for arrogance

It’s survival

You want me erased

You don’t get to slap silence on my mouth and call it “respect“

You call it defiance to stand in my skin

I won’t BURN bridges to sit at your table

I don’t owe you sorry because my politics don’t match your playlist

I don’t nod on cue or clap for your every progressive performance

You say I’m dangerous, that conviction is dangerous, unless it’s yours

Your version of tolerance cuts me out the moment I disagree

I’m not here to be digestible or fit inside your lens

I’m not your villian, I just see this world differently

But you swear that’s a crime

You weaponize shame like a moral badge

Call me what you like–conservative, brainwashed, bigot

I’ve heard it all but I’m still here and standing

I speak what’s real to me. I don’t care to sell my voice for applause

I believe in borders, in personal responsibility, in questioning systems

This is my red line

I am unbothered by your outrage

I don’t owe you agreement. I don’t owe you guilt

Under the flag I stand as I vote for the values that built me

You will throw your words like knives, but your outrage doesn’t make you righteous

I’ve seen this script before. A different decade but the same condescension

I don’t hate you, but I don’t need your approval

I’m not lost. I’m not confused. Just unbothered by your noise

I don’t raise my voice to be heard

I don’t need volume when I have resolve

I don’t need headlines and hashtags to believe what I believe

I read

I listen

I watch

I believe in limits, in laws, in freedom with responsibility, in tradition where it still serves

I am not cruel

I am not blind

I am honest

I am aware

I won’t argue with you

I won’t debate to be liked

I will be still as I sit and watch the storm of opinions rush by

Conviction doesn’t need a stage

It needs a spine