Perhaps, you were born kneeling
and crying
expecting a kiss of mercy
and touch of love
Perhaps, you were not born strong
and feisty
seizing the smiles on the faces
that saw you
but remember, woman
you were never weak.
.
You may be the kind of woman
that men want to keep
and you can let them keep you;
hold you, grasp you, clutch you, anything-
if it means that they can get
a lingering sense of what a woman feels like
But don’t let them squeeze away
the very soul of you;
what makes you you
don’t whimper wordlessly
while their knuckles turn white
from holding onto you so tight.
.
You may be the kind of woman
that men want to write about
and you can let them weave you
into words, phrases
stories, metaphors, anything-
from the curves of your smile to the dips of your hips
let them frame you into pages
But don’t let them ink your innocence
with dark shades of night
or color you frail
when you’ve only ever been valiant
throughout your life
.
You may be the kind of woman
that men want to love
and you can let them love you;
kiss you, care for you
praise the delicacy of your being
and the strength that lies within
But don’t let them adorn you
with mere adjectives of the common-
“Pretty” “****” “hot”, and whatnot
You are worth more than
just words that are meant to capture you into feelings
you are bold, like the text on my computer screen
you are hope, like that hidden in the Sun
you…are beautiful.
.
You are a woman
a human
a mother,
a sister,
a daughter,
an equal.
.
And yes, perhaps
You were not born strong
and feisty,
but remember, woman
you were never weak
You are the whisper
of the wind
singing in our ears
‘Carpe Diem’
you are our yesterday
today
and tomorrow .
But above all-
You are a woman
And that should be enough.