JUST BEING: Poems
Let Me Tell You the Truth
Rachel Toalson
people call me brave / I am not brave / I am burning / the fire has nowhere to go / but up / the blaze of my being / incinerated / to produce / an offering of truth
people call me admirable / I am not admirable / I am unable / to stay silent / in the face of injustice / a character flaw at times / a strength at others
people call me prolific / I am not prolific / my body is not strong enough / to hold all the words /inside / they gallop out / into the world / instead
people call me noble / I am not noble / I merely believe / we are all human / all connected / all on an equal plane / of worth / significance / potential
people call me wise / I am not wise / I only know what it is / to lie / at the bottom of the world /and wonder / if I’ll ever get back up / and so / I try / to remember / how to fly
Rachel Toalson is the author of The Colors of the Rain, The Woods, The First Magnificent Summer, and Something Maybe Magnificent (Simon& Schuster, 2024). Her poetry has been published in print magazines and literary journals around the world. She lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband and six sons.
