Diamonds are beautiful,

but they are also strong.

That girl in your comp-sci class,

rainbow glasses,

nails like constellations,

does not need your soft-eyed pity.

Her mother mapped the stars,

and her grandmother

bit into forbidden fruit.

There is nothing she cannot do.

I once knew a woman

who sliced the sun open

like a ripe mango,

let fire spill down her arms

just to prove she could

to someone who swore

she was nothing but

perfume and pleasantries.

So next time you shake your head

at the mother who lets her daughter

dig in dirt,

or crash toy cars

instead of planting rosebuds,

know this:

you are tightening the noose

we spent centuries loosening.

You are threading silence

back into our throats.

We fought for what we were denied.

We bled for the right

to be both flame and steel.

So don’t buy the diamond

just because it shines.

Buy it

because it endures

and survives.