Never Soft

I didn’t come in soft or shy,

I came to ask the how and why,

I came to touch, to taste, to see,

The world was wild and new to me.

No rule could fence my growing mind,

No scold could make my spark unwind,

Each no became a question mark,

A challenge lit, a secret spark.

They said I asked for far too much,

That rules were there and not to touch,

But wonder doesn’t care for lines,

It breaks the frame to seek its signs.

Their weary eyes began to close,

Each question felt like one too close,

They wanted calm, I brought a storm,

My truth refused to fit their form.

So whispers circled where I played,

That I was wild, too sharp, dismayed,

But I was just a flame unkept,

Still glowing where their silence slept.

Cathrine Hottran 2025