pl wom•en \’wimen\ an, wumman, wimman, wimwifmon, fr. oe wifmon, wifman, wif woman, wife +mon, man n—more at wife, man] 1 a a female human being–disuished from man <the women dened and cooked while the n hunted and fished> (2) : an lt female human being—disuished from girl <the women girls formed a glee club> (3) female human being such as without regard to any spestatus (as as off b birth, irrth th,, po posi position, siti tion on,, ffice) <she he is i a queen que u en e but bu utt she sh hee so a ~> (4) (4)) : a ffemale eem mal aeh hu human uma man n ng of a class claass s or or character char ch a ac ar acte ter er than normally nor or ma m llllyy considered cons co nsid ider ered e dy b : a female feem mal alee hu huma human man beb be belongingg too a p particular arttiiccu ar ula lar an aand d ed ccategory atteg egor oryy (a ((as as by by specified h, residence, ncee or membership) mem embe bers rshi hip) p) ~ of affairs> <several Chriswomen> – usu. used in comation <charwoman> <washomen>; compare MAN 2b c hiefly dial : WIFE (2) : MISTRESS 3) women, pl: human females artners in sexual intercourse rregularities <refrained from en during Lent> d (1) : one essing in high degree the lities considered distinctive womanhood (as gentleness, ction, and domesticity or on other hand fickleness, superlity, and folly) (2) : womanly racter or quality : WOMANLI2 : the female part of the man race : female human gs esp. when viewed as a ural kind or personified as ndividual : WOMANKIND <~is glory of all created existence amuel Richardson> 3 : a man female that serves or is ordinate to another <expect ~ to come in to clean the >; ESP : one that is the peral maid of another man \”\ adj [ME, fr. woman,
woman \”\ vt -ED/-ING/-s [1woman] 1 : to make into a woman or the likeness of a woman 2 obs : to make effeminate 3 obs : to associate (one) with a woman <to have him see me ~ed–Shak.> 4 : to furnish or staff with women womanfolk \’==,=\ n, pl womenfolk also womanfolk or womenfolks [2woman + folk] 1 chiefly dial : WOMAN 2 womenfolk also womanfolk or womenfolks pl: the women of a group (ass a fa (a fami mily ly oorr co ccommunity) omm mmun unit ity) y) < gett th ge family <get the wo w om om meenffol olk ooff ffff tto o th thee hi hill llss —E —E.M .M. Fo F womenfolk hills —E.M. Forster st er> > ster> wom m•an n•fully \ -n, he -n hed\ d\ d \ n [M ME wom•an•fully \-n, w man + -fully wo (as in ma anffully ullly l ))]] : w i woman manfully)] with woma m nly constancy or spirit spiri rit ri womanly a \-n, \-n n, hed\ heed h d\ \ n [M MEwom•an•head w wo woma om maanhhede,, fr. frr. 1woman 1woom maan + -h hed edee --hood hooo womanhede, -hede (aki (a kin n to ME ME -hod, -hhodd, -had -hadd -hood)] -ho hoood d)] archaic arch ar chaa (akin AN NHO HOOD OD : WOMANHOOD wom•an•hood \ -n, hed\ n [ME womanhod, fr. 1woman + -hod -hood] 1 : the state of being a woman : the distinguishing character or qualities of a woman or of womankind 2 : WOMAN, WOMANKIND <the ~ of a nation> wom•an•ish \ ‘wumenish sometimes esp in the South ‘wom- or wem- \ adj [ME, fr. 1woman + -ish] 1 archaic : of or beloinging to women : done by women <~ work> 2 : characteristic of a woman : suitable to or resembling a woman : FEMININE <love her for the sake of her gentle and ~ ways –A.W. Kinglake> <nothing ~ in the room except a full-length mirror — Raymond Chandler> 3 : unsuitable to a man or to a strong character of either sex : not strong or virile <hence, ~ fears, traitors to love and duty —S.T. Coleridge> <disdaining all the ~ peace talk about them —James Cameron> <womanly, yet quite unlike the ~ women —George 1 Meredith> syn see FEMALE wom•an•ish•ly adv : in a womanish manner 3
wom•an•kind woman kinde, fr kind] 1: the fe man race : WO kind tools of m and mop — thorne> 2 : t bers of a fam community < their ~ —S.P. chaic : a female 1 wo•man•like [ME, fr. 1woman sembling or c woman : havin to or peculiar of a woman : acteristic femin lack of promp : WOMANISH < surprised in a sorrow —Sir W see FEMALE 2 wom•an•like 1 woman + like, a wom•an•li•ne -lin-\ n -ES : th womanly 1 wom•an•ly EST [ME womm woman + -lich : marked by q istic of a wom by qualities b balanced adult ners> <~ advi of the characte fitting a grown ger childish or to a grown wom wearing a ~ so too larg for he ens> 3 : chara ing to, or suit conforming to a woman’s nat rather than a m that drawing time, if not d painting on C
what it means to be a
an anthology of ten feminist poems
Published at Iowa State University Copyright © 2013 by Whitley R. Kemble All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the publisher. This book is an anthology of poems, the sources of which may be found in the About the Authors page at the back of this book. Definition of “woman” taken from Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language: Unabridged. Book design by Whitley Kemble First Edition: February 2013 54321
1: woman \7\ (nikki giovanni); 1: a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hear \9\ (berlie doherty); 3: farewell from welfare island \10\ (julia de burgos); 4: still i rise \12\ (maya angelou); 5: phenomenal woman \15\ (maya angelou); 6: queen kong \18\ (carol ann duffy); 7: siren song \22\ (margaret atwood); 8: fearful women \24\ (carolyn kizer); 9: no solace for glass dolls \26\ (whitley kemble); 10: her kind \28\ (anne sexton) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; about the authors, pg 30 <colophon, pg 32>
8
Woman
by Nikki Giovanni
she wanted to be a blade of grass amid the fields but he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t agree to be the dandelion she wanted to be a robin singing through the leaves but he refused to be her tree she spun herself into a web and looking for a place to rest turned to him but he stood straight declining to be her corner she tried to be a book but he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t read she turned herself into a bulb but he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let her grow she decided to become a woman and though he still refused to be a man she decided it was all right
9
A Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Heart by Berlie Doherty
10
Here lies a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart. There in her hills lie her green bones, quiet under the clutter of houses and streets. And there in her rivers run veins that long ago powered her mills. Her long limbs reach to the moors. But here, here
lies her throbbing
heart. 11
Farewell from Welfare Island by Julia de Burgos
12
It has to come from here, right this instance, my cry into the world. The past is only a shadow emerging from nowhere. Life was somewhere forgotten and sought refuge in depths of tears and sorrows; over this vast empire of solitude and darkness. Where is the voice of freedom, freedom to laugh, to move without the heavy phantom of despair? Where is the form of beauty unshaken in its veil, simple and pure? Where is the warmth of heaven pouring its dreams of love in broken spirits? It has to be from here, right this instance, my cry into the world. My cry that is no more mine, but hers and his forever, the comrades of my silence, the phantoms of my grave. It has to be from here, forgotten but unshaken, among comrades of silence deep into Welfare Island my
farewell to the world. 13
still I
RISE
by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
?
Does my sassiness upset you Why are you beset with gloom . 'Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries.
14
Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own back yard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise
I rise
I rise. 15
16
Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.
17
I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It’s the fire in my eyes And the flash of my teeth, The swing of my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can’t touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them, They say they still can’t see. I say It’s in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.
18
Now you understand Just why my head’s not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say,
It’s in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, The palm of my hand, The need of my care, 'Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
19
QUEEN KONG by Carol Ann Duffy
I remember peeping in at his skyscraper room and seeing him fast asleep. My little man. I’d been in Manhattan a week, making my plans; staying at 2 quiet hotels in the Village, where people were used to strangers and more or less left you alone. To this day I’m especially fond of pastrami on rye. I digress. As you see, this island’s a paradise. He’d arrived, my man, with a documentary team to make a film. (There’s a particular toad that lays its eggs only here.) I found him alone in a clearing, scooped him up in my palm, and held his wriggling, shouting life till he calmed. For me, it was absolutely love at first sight. I’d been so lonely. Long nights in the heat of my own pelt, rumbling an animal blues. All right, he was small, but perfectly formed and gorgeous. There were things he could do for me with the sweet finesse of those hands that no gorilla could. I swore in my huge heart to follow him then to the ends of the earth.
20
For he wouldn’t stay here. He was nervous. I’d go to his camp each night at dusk, crouch by the delicate tents, and wait. His colleagues always sent him out pretty quick. He’d climb into my open hand, sit down; and then I’d gently pick at his shirt and his trews, peel him, put the tip of my tongue to the grape of his flesh.
Bliss. But when he’d finished his prize-winning film, he packed his case; hopped up and down on my heartline, miming the flight back home to New York. Big metal bird. Didn’t he know I could swat his plane from these skies like a gnat? But I let him go, my man. I watched him fly into the sun as I thumped at my breast, distraught. I lasted a month. I slept for a week, then woke to binge for a fortnight. I didn’t wash. The parrots clacked their migraine chant. The swinging monkeys whinged. Fevered, I drank handfuls of river right by the spot where he’d bathed. I bled with a fat, red moon rolled on the jungle roof. And after that, I decided to get him back.
21
So I came to sail up the Hudson one June night, with the New York skyline a concrete rainforest of light; and felt, lovesick and vast, the first glimmer of hope in weeks. I was discreet, prowled those streets in darkness, pressing my passionate eye to a thousand windows, each with its modest peep-show of boredom or pain, of drama, consolation, remorse. I found him, of course. At 3 a.m. on a Sunday, dreaming alone in his single bed; over his lovely head a blown-up photograph of myself. I stared for a long time till my big brown eyes grew moist; then I padded away through Central Park, under the stars. He was mine. Next day, I shopped. Clothes for my main, mainly, but one or two treats for myself from Bloomingdaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. I picked him, like a chocolate from the top layer of a box, one Friday night, out of his room and let him dangle in the air between my finger and my thumb in a teasing, loverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way. Then we sat on the tip of the Empire State Building, saying farewell to the Brooklyn Bridge, to the winking yellow cabs, to the helicopters over the river, dragonflies.
22
Twelve happy years. He slept in my fur, woke early to massage the heavy lids of my eyes. I liked that. He liked me to gently blow on him; or scratch, with care, the length of his back with my nail. Then I’d ask him to play on the wooden pipes he’d made in our first year. He’d sit, cross-legged, near my ear for hours: his plaintive, lost tunes making me cry. When he died, I held him all night, shaking him like a doll, licking his face, breast, soles of his feet, his little rod. But then, heartsore as I was, I set to work. He would be pleased. I wear him now around my neck, perfect, preserved, with tiny emeralds for eyes.
No man has been loved more. I’m sure that, sometimes, in his silent death, against my massive, breathing lungs,
he hears me
roar.
23
Siren Song by Margaret Atwood
24
This is the one song everyone would like to learn: the song that is irresistible: the song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons even though they see the beached skulls the song nobody knows because anyone who has heard it is dead, and the others can’t remember. Shall I tell you the secret and if I do, will you get me out of this bird suit? I don’t enjoy it here squatting on this island looking picturesque and mythical with these two feathery maniacs, I don’t enjoy singing this trio, fatal and valuable. I will tell the secret to you, to you, only to you. Come closer. This song is a cry for help: Help me! Only you, only you can, you are unique at last. Alas it is a boring song but it
works every time. 25
Fearful Women
by Carolyn Kizer
Arms and the girl I sing –O rare arms that are braceleted and white and bare arms that were lovely Helen’s, in whose name Greek slaughtered Trojan. Helen was to blame. Scape-nanny call her; wars for turf and profit don’t sound glamorous enough. Mythologize your women! None escape. Europe was named from an act of bestial rape: Eponymous girl on bull-back, he intent on scattering sperm across a continent.
26
Old Zeus refused to take the rap. It’s not his name in big print on the map. But let’s go back to the beginning when sinners didn’t know that they were sinning. He, one rib short: she lived to rue it when Adam said to God, “She made me do it.” Eve learned that learning was a dangerous thing for her: no end of trouble would it bring. An educated woman is a danger. Lock up your mate! Keep a submissive stranger like Darby’s Joan, content with church and Kinder, not like that sainted Joan, burnt to a cinder. Whether we wield a scepter or a mop It’s clear you fear that we may get on top. And if we do— I say it without animus —
It’s not from you we learned to be magnanimous.
27
28
No Solace for
Glass Dolls by Whitley Kemble
Small hands and a net of lace Lord, lift this veil from my eyes, The lions are prowling again. This doll’s face. Lifeless—
Glazed. Glass. Grief. Deceptively graceful; Inside’s a wreck.
Held up by a wire, So still. So straight. So solemnly sad. Crushed velvet and curls. My painted smile— Perfectly flawed. And you the oppressor. My innocence is shattered, While you stomp laughingly on the shards. You with your Bourgeois smile. Exploitation of the “weaker sex”. Made not to speak, Eternity on the shelf. No solace for glass dolls.
29
30
Her Kind by Anne Sexton
I have gone out, a possessed witch, haunting the black air, braver at night; dreaming evil, I have done my hitch over the plain houses, light by light: lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind. A woman like that is not a woman, quite. I have been her kind. I have found the warm caves in the woods, filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves, closets, silks, innumerable goods; fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves: whining, rearranging the disaligned. A woman like that is misunderstood.
I have been her kind.
I have ridden in your cart, driver, waved my nude arms at villages going by, learning the last bright routes, survivor where your flames still bite my thigh and my ribs crack where your wheels wind. A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
I have been her kind.
31
About the
Authors
32
<nikki giovanni> Nikki Giovanni’s work is very much a narrative, focusing on her experiences as a woman, an African American, a mother, and a teacher. “Woman” from The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni is just one of her many inspiring poems.
<margaret atwood> Margaret Atwood’s versatility as a writer has earned her numerous well-deserved accolades around the globe. Her work tends to tackle environmental, as well as women’s issues. Siren Song was published in Selected Poems 1965-1975.
<berlie doherty> English-born author and poet Berlie Doherty spends most of her time writing children’s books. “A City’s Heart” was published in Street Child, a children’s book about an orphan living on the streets of inner-city London.
<carolyn kizer> Carolyn Kizer is an American-born poet and educator. “Fearful Women” comes from Kizer’s anthology, Cool, Calm, & Collected. Her no-nonsense voice and inclination toward social and ethical topics earned her a Pulitzer prize for Yin: New Poems in 1984.
<julia de burgos> Julia de Burgos is one of the most revolutionary and inspirational Latin American poets of all time. Though short, her time as a writer and poet yielded more than 200 poems. “Farewell from Welfare Island”, from Song of the Simple Truth, details the hardships she and other immigrants endured in coming to America. <maya angelou> Though best known for her poetry, Dr. Maya Angelou’s influence has reached millions globally through music, literature, film, and social reform. She has published more than 30 books in her lifetime; “Phenomenal Woman” and “Still I Rise” can be found in her 1978 collective, And Still I Rise.
<whitley kemble> Whitley Kemble’s earliest published work as a teen sparked a love of writing, which she has carried into adulthood. She plans to self-publish “Glass Doll”s in a book of original poetry, Metamorphosis. She currently works as a graphic artist and journalist. <anne sexton> Though her career began with a rocky start, Anne Sexton emerged as a master of poetry in the 1960s. Her honest, confessional style was something many people identified with during a time of great social change and upheaval. “Her Kind” appears in The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton.
<carol ann duffy> Carol Ann Duffy’s can best be described as a maverick. She approaches women’s and social issues from the perspective of an everyday person, presenting them in a personal, relatable way. She does this in “Queen Kong”, one of many acclaimed poems in her book, The World’s Wife.
33
col•o•phon
34
This book was designed in Adobe InDesign CS5.5, with cover and flyleaf pages designed in Adobe Illustrator. Fonts used include Baskerville and Chenier by Cloutier Fontes. Cover and flyleaf designs are the original work of Whitley Kemble with definitions cited from Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language: Unabridged.
pl wom•en \’wimen\ [me literature—Tomorrow> an, wumman, wimman, wim- 3woman \”\ vt -ED/-ING/-s [1womwifmon, fr. oe wifmon, wifman, an] 1 : to make into a woman or the wif woman, wife +mon, man likeness of a woman 2 obs : to make —more at wife, man] 1 a effeminate 3 obs : to associate (one) a female human being–dis- with a woman <to have him see me uished from man <the women ~ed–Shak.> 4 : to furnish or staff ened and cooked while the with women hunted and fished> (2) : an womanfolk \’==,=\ n, pl womt female human being—dis- enfolk also womanfolk or womuished from girl <the women enfolks [2woman + folk] 1 chiefly dial girls formed a glee club> (3) : WOMAN 2 womenfolk also womanfolk or emale human being such as womenfolks pl: the women of a group without regard to any spe- (as a family or community) <get the status (as of birth, position, womenfolk off to the hills —E.M. Forffice) <she is a queen but she ster> o a ~> (4) : a female human g of a class or character wom•an•fully \-n, hed\ n [ME r than normally considered woman + -fully (as in manfully)] : with dy b : a female human be- womanly constancy or spirit belonging to a particular and wom•an•head \-n, hed\ n [MEspecified category (as by womanhede, fr. 1woman + -hede -hood h, residence, or membership) (akin to ME -hod, -had -hood)] archaic of affairs> <several Chris- : WOMANHOOD women> – usu. used in com- wom•an•hood \ -n, hed\ n [ME tion <charwoman> <wash- womanhod, fr. 1woman + -hod -hood] 1 men>; compare MAN 2b c : the state of being a woman : the hiefly dial : WIFE (2) : MISTRESS distinguishing character or qualities 3) women, pl: human females of a woman or of womankind 2 : artners in sexual intercourse WOMAN, WOMANKIND <the ~ of a naregularities <refrained from tion> en during Lent> d (1) : one wom•an•ish \ ‘wumenish sometimes essing in high degree the esp in the South ‘wom- or wem- \ adj ities considered distinctive [ME, fr. 1woman + -ish] 1 archaic : of womanhood (as gentleness, or beloinging to women : done by ction, and domesticity or on women <~ work> 2 : characteristic other hand fickleness, super- of a woman : suitable to or resemlity, and folly) (2) : womanly bling a woman : FEMININE <love her acter or quality : WOMANLI- for the sake of her gentle and ~ ways 2 : the female part of the –A.W. Kinglake> <nothing ~ in the an race : female human room except a full-length mirror — eweed as as a Raymond gs esp. when viewed Raaym ymon ond d Chandler> Chan Ch an and ndl dler er> > 3 : unsuitable uns nsui ui ral kind or personifi son on nifi fieed fi ed as to to a man man an or or to to a strong str tron ongg character c ar ch ndividual : WOMANKIND NK KIND IND < IN <~is ~iis of Printed eit i he h r atsex : not not ot strong str tron ongg or virile either glory of all created d eexistence x st xi sten ence ceIowa < State <h ence,University trait ittor o s to to love lov o e and <hence, ~ fears, traitors amuel Richardson> n> 3 : a duty d Spring du ty —S.T. T Coleridge> e> > <disdain<d diis 2013 an female that serves ervves e or or is is ingg all the ~ peace p acce talk pe taalkk about abo b ut them ordinate to another eerr <expect <ex expe pect ctt —James —JJam ames ess Cameron> Cam amer eron on> <womanly, <wom <w o an om nl yet c cl ean ea n th e ~ to come in to clean the it unli un like ke t he ~ w omen om en n G quite unlike the women —George 38 >; ESP : one that is the per- Meredith> syn see FEMALE l maid of another wom•an•ish•ly adv : in a womanish
mal womanhoo wom•an•kind woman kinde, fr kind] 1: the fe man race : WO kind tools of m and mop — thorne> 2 : th bers of a fami community <b their ~ —S.P. chaic : a female 1 wo•man•like [ME, fr. 1woman sembling or ch woman : having to or peculiar of a woman : m acteristic femin lack of prompt : WOMANISH <a surprised in a sorrow —Sir W see FEMALE 2 wom•an•like 1 woman + like, a wom•an•li•ne -lin-\ n -ES : the womanly 1 wom•an•ly EST [ME womma woman + -lich : marked by qu istic of a wom by qualities b balanced adult ners> <~ advi of the characte fitting a grown ger childish or g to a grown wom wearing a ~ sor too larg for he ens> 3 : charac ing to, or suita conforming to a woman’s nat rather than a m that drawing time, if not d painting on C