This Woman

I wrote this about two years ago. I thought I'd share. Some of you have seen earlier versions of it. This Woman is you...Yes, you!

This Woman

This woman has learned to speak. With a voice sonorous and sexual she impregnates you with her dialogue.

This woman has learned to write. In prose that intoxicates even the alcoholic she reveals the luxury of the feminine.

This woman has learned to dance. She becomes liquid human; arms, legs, torso - all nebulous and precise.

This woman has learned to sing. Hear the stories of her ancestors in the melody, the dreams of her children in the harmony.

This woman has learned to walk. Barefoot and slow. Each step a prayer of reverence to the earth and to herself.

This woman has learned to cry. Without judgment each tear becomes her validity.

This woman has learned to weld. Constructing the broken shards into a being more exquisite.

This woman has learned to lay naked next to you, windows thrown open exposing the honesty of her belly and breasts.

The woman has learned to pray. Finding humility in the asking and the receiving.

This woman has learned to revolt. No apologies are offered, none are expected.

This woman has learned to be still, the mist rolls over her sun burnt body and she remembers the sweetness of your kiss.

This woman has learned to effort without damage, living with the knowledge of her own strength.

This woman has learned to give birth to her hope, to her promise, and to her child.

This woman has learned to play, laughing at the letting go and bowing down to kiss the feet of her beloved.

This woman has learned to be valid, realizing that her worth is not contingent on the width of her thigh, the shape of her nose, or the capacity of her logic.

This woman has learned to influence, and those she cannot reach with her hands she will reach with her voice, and those she cannot reach with her voice, she will reach with her mind, and those she cannot reach with her mind she will reach with her heart, and those she cannot reach with her heart she will reach with all the good intentions of her mother’s prayers.