I recently went to an open mic night at a church where I’d planned to read the poem I’d written that afternoon. I shared it with my mum when I arrived, and she convinced me to perform a non-controversial song I wrote instead.

Here’s the thing: there were a lot of men in the room, and many of them were older than I am (plenty younger too), and my mum was concerned I might hurt their feelings. My instinct was to point out that if anyone was offended by my words, then they were exactly the people who needed to hear my words; but it was a social night out, and I’m not always great at reading the room. I didn’t think any good men would be hurt by my words, but just in case I was wrong about that, I held off.

Later I ran my words past two of my favourite men, who both told me they loved it, so I’ve decided to put it out into the world anyway.