How to become a wild woman

step 1 — get familiar with your middle fingers

let them breath and kiss the sky

let them be a resounding response to the stupidity around you

watch as they take on society’s expectations and dismantle them bit by bit.

step 2 — spend time with dirt

grab fist-fulls of it

breath it in

let it cover your bare feet unapologetically and don’t wash it off

it is your mother and out of her you emerged a carbon copy of every wild woman before

step 3 — scream at the sky the deep, soul aches of your life

let your anger at the injustices exist without shaming yourself for caring

let it move through your gut, up your esophagus, and out your mouth into the air

a toxin to the toxic

step 4 — don’t smile when they tell you to

smile when you feel it and not a pretty, demure inch more

smile creepily at them instead

smile to make them squirm

step 5 — stop apologizing for being a woman

let each breath you take echo the eternal rebellion that is woman

the freedom that is wild

let them shudder at the thought of you.