little blue flowers

steel-toed slippers

a poem for every woman; in honor of International Women's Week 2018

i am woman.
i am every pattern of skin
every strand of hair
every ounce of will broken
every snapping jaw at labels like pretty
with no following descriptions
i am all women.

they didn't notice when i fled
through shrinking doors
to dance in dark corridors with myself
no man to lead
no girl to place flowers in my hair
and whisper words of good luck
no boy to sing me into his arms
i swayed on my feet
but didn't fall
no
i had every woman behind me to help shoulder the gathering storm's mess
to keep my knees from kissing the tiles
as they had been forced to do
i am all women
old and new and splintering all over
we're not easily contained behind
blank faces of plaster
silly face paint dribbling from our lips
no
my words
my will
my endless militia of pretty chaos
dribbles from my lips
as yours only leave bantering spittle.

i am woman.

there's so much more than onyx eyelashes staining petal-pink cheeks
my body has bled for more than a few words on a page declaring equality
i need my place taken back in reality
i need the mic between my fingers
speakers on, ears keen, eyes a-glistening
so that i can tell you about revolutions
dancing in dark corridors
no watchmen to silence us completely
we ran like prey from well-fed hounds
but we had the snapping jaws even then
and bit back with more ferocity than what was dealt to us,
what was thrust on us
there was no world to stop the relentless
determination of women i tell you
and there still isn't one now.

i am all women
and through light we march strong
flags flying higher than bloody war banners repeated across history
we hold close to our daughters and sons
our brothers and sisters and families
because it's not all about
what's written upon you but what
you choose to write upon yourself
and when we're finished i will ask you
to define my womanhood
from a distance
and you will see that
i am not the one

but the many.