I am a woman
Who smells of rust and roses.
I've spent my life remembering what it is
To be made of earth.
Casting off shame daily
Guided by the knowing
In the belly.
I sometimes feel like my body is failing me
When I sweat like a trapped animal
The fear that never managed to escape.
I am a woman
Of prayer and poetry.
And it amazes me that in those moments
When the mind cannot bear any more
The only mantra left
"Hail Mary, full of grace
The lord is with thee."
I am a woman
Of magic and mystery.
Weaving the craft of women
That I've retrieved from the depths
Of my ancestry.
There are those who cannot see
There are those who will never understand.
To be wild and gentle.
Cunning and innocent.
Humbled by the love in the simplest things
Knowing I can be better
Knowing I will be, more and more, a mother
As I am mothered in return
Loving light in all its forms
After so long fighting through the dark.
With each fall, I rise
With each incineration and shaking emancipation
From whatever has been binding
Like a bird
I fly.
