Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Message to a Young Warrior Woman



I know the journey
you are making, 
my young friend,
for I, too, have walked
pain's pathway.
Know this: the route
will make you strong.
As you grow, 
your warrior woman
will arise.
(She is waking now.)
Your inner fire 
has been dampened,
but not extinguished,
by those unable to see
who you are.
One day, little bird,
you will fly.

Right now you are at 
the end of the branch,
contemplating the sky,
wondering what soaring 
might feel like.

Gather the air 
under your wings, 
little bird,
and, when you feel ready, 
lift off,
trusting the sky
to carry you.

But always remember:
the longest journey that
we ever make
is the one between
our heads
and our hearts.


***   ***   ***

"Me, too," I wrote on facebook,
recalling a cold and painful past.
"Me, too," wrote both my daughters,
able to speak of it at last.
"Me, too,"  added my granddaughter,
girl of fire and storm.
"Me, too," is now a sisterhood,
a planet to transform.


***   ***   ***


A wise medicine man once said to me: "Your greatest pain is your strongest medicine". And he was right. For my prompt at Real Toads: to write about women, in response to the "Me, too" movement.



15 comments:

  1. SO true on that being the longest journey. When we reach we risk falling. And there will not always be people there to catch you when you do. Matter of fact, many may chide you when you do.

    My heart breaks for the young women (and men) in this world they are growing up in. Too many of them have no idea.

    I am really thinking hard on this one Sherry. Will wait and read your prompt and see what I can do.

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  2. Super prompt. I wonder how many millions of woman through the ages could come out of their graves with "me too" on their lips. And the men. So sad,

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  3. The authenticity of the speaker's voice in this poem stirs the emotion. It is a shame that women the world over are subject to exploitation, whether it be in so-called first world countries or third.

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  4. The tenderness in the speaker's voice is the most powerful testament, a proof that sings of a future in which the horror becomes a memory one can look in the face, and say, "You do not own me. You never have. You never will."

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  5. Somewhere the ghosts of billions of women are mouthing the words 'Me too', from those burnt at the stake, gassed in the Holocaust, locked up and starved to death in asylums, to those who died at the hands of lovers and husbands, or even in childbirth. Yes, the journey has been a long one, Sherry, and we still have a long way to go.
    I agree with Magaly about the tenderness in the speaker's voice - we must retain our tenderness, even when sharing our pain. I love the lines:
    'your warrior woman
    will arise.
    (She is waking now.)'
    in the understand that women warriors are gentle and kind.
    And I love the final stanza, the rhyming and the repetition of 'Me too'.

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  6. May "me too" transform the planet so that all birds can fly:

    "Right now you are at
    the end of the branch,
    contemplating the sky,"

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  7. I love the last stanza of that first poem. Just gorgeous.

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  8. Thank you, my friends, for your wise and aware comments. It is a huge topic. Like every woman, I had so many stories I couldnt choose, so I went in a general direction instead.

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  9. This just shows that strength is not bluster or aggressiveness. Strength can be sweet, gentle and respectful of the tender spots in others.

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  10. I just hope that one day, the cave men will realize and there will be a generation of women and men who will wonder about this... A colleague reminded us that not too many years ago we accepted smoking in restaurants... we simply have to learn

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  11. Beautiful Sherry. The time's they are a changin.

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  12. Wow, absolutely fantastic blog. I am very glad to have such useful information.

    เย็ดสาว

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  13. I love how the poem is so full of warmth and inspiration and instills a sense of hope and encouragement in the reader. Sharing it on social media hoping more people get to read it.

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  14. This is a beUtiful poem a cheerand i really luv that end stanza

    Much💖love

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