Odes to Joy

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (Canonical) · Track 253 · middle

Ain't I a Woman

Sojourner Truth

Lyrics

**Central Image:** The act of asking—the raised hand, the unflinching question posed to a room, the moment truth breaks silence.

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[Verse 1]
Your shoulder rises, your throat opens wide,
you ask the room what they cannot hide—
"ain't I a woman?" the question lands
like lightning through their folded hands.
Your voice rewires the space itself,
theta waves of courage on the shelf,
each synapse in that chapel fires,
mirrors what the crowd desires.

[Chorus]
You are the asking that won't quit,
the muscle memory of grit,
the way a body speaks its truth
with laughter ringing through the room's last booth,
you are the question come alive,
the proof that flesh can still survive.

[Verse 2]
Your arms have picked the cotton clean,
your thighs have labored, hungry, lean—
cortical remapping happens here,
proprioception stripped of fear.
You feel your own weight, bone and blood,
you know the geography of mud,
and when you stand to speak, your brain
consolidates the joy and pain.

[Chorus]
You are the asking that won't quit,
the muscle memory of grit,
the way a body speaks its truth
with laughter ringing through the room's last booth,
you are the question come alive,
the proof that flesh can still survive.

[Bridge]
Your neurons fire new pathways still,
long-term potentiation of the will—
you plant the questions in the ground,
watch them grow without a sound,
myelinated strength, intention clear,
you teach the world it's safe to hear.

[Chorus]
You are the asking that won't quit,
the muscle memory of grit,
the way a body speaks its truth
with laughter ringing through the room's last booth,
you are the question come alive,
the proof that flesh can still survive.

[Outro]
Your hand stays raised, your voice stays true,
"ain't I?" echoes through and through—
the question never settles down,
it crowns you, keeps you standing proud.

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**Word Count: 287 words** ✓
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