By Giada Nizzoli
I’m an uncomfortable daughter and relative to have at a big family dinner: I no longer keep quiet when they spoon-feed me N-bombs, patriarchy anthems, and homophobic comments.
Don’t get me wrong: I won’t argue against improbable pizza toppings, films, songs, and the best dog breed of all time, even though I might have a different opinion from theirs.
But I won’t smile and nod if everyone believes in microchips inside a vaccine, that climate change is a hoax, and refugees shouldn’t be helped as they die at sea.
Smiling and nodding is enabling, and keeping quiet is agreeing.
Perhaps I won’t change anyone’s mind with my numbers, facts, and empathy, but they’ll know there are consequences when such things are said out loud.
So, I guess that makes me
an uncomfortable daughter and relative
to have at a big family dinner.
Or, maybe, they’re disappointed because
they expected a ragdoll in my place.
A quiet one.
Not even a puppet with pre-recorded sounds:
they’d rather not take any risks.
Giada Nizzoli is a freelance writer and poet based in Chester. Her work has appeared in The London Magazine and The Pangolin Review. She published her debut poetry collection (Will-o’-the-Wisps) in 2020. Follow her on instagram @giada_writes