“Poetry needs both a mother and a father....”
                                                                                      -Virginia Wolfe


I am the poem
that has been born
of all the mothers
who have come before me.
In every fiber of my being,
in every cell of my body,
the words and deeds of these women
beat through my soul
in an eternal rhythm that will continue on
to my daughters in a distant,
unseen future.
Each mark upon my body,
every desire in my heart
is an echo
of all that they have loved,
all
that they have sacrificed.
The words I write
are their words,
muted and modulated
by time and society;
my name written upon this page
is written for their glory
and the recognition
of all that they have gained
for us women of today.
I am their testament,
I am their artistic expression.
We,
now,
are daughters,
are grand-daughters,
are nieces,
are sisters
of these women.
We are the mothers of tomorrow
and for all that is to come.
We add to
the poem,
the story,
the painting.
We are all literary women by our birth;
we are literature to our deepest core.
We are the muses of the fathers,
but the fathers cannot be
the womb of creativity
as we are.
There is glory in being
the mothers of expression.
I am not a poetess,
but I am a poem.
Another line has just been added.