Now Go Forth and Speak

I WOKE IN the middle of the night with clenched jaws. 

And there had been no nightmare to precipitate the tightness. No axe murderer, no car accident, no confrontation.

So it must have been corked anger. 

I didn't speak the words but they still were in my mouth, turning it into a vice grip. 

It's no wonder the dentist asked if I grind my teeth. No, I don't grind my teeth.  I clench my jaws. 

All of these years, 26 years, of silencing myself. 

All of those words left unspoken are still there, floating in the muscles of my jaw, buried in my teeth, stacked beneath my tongue.

Dear Woman, I said to myself, You are not crazy.  You are not depressed.  You are unheard.  That's all.  Unheard. Now go forth and speak.