assumptions

A work in progress but today is the day. My poem for International Women's day.

Assumptions

What do you see when you look at me,

mother, daughter, sister, all three?

Friend, enemy, lover, wife,

What kind of assumptions, do you make of my life?

When you look in my eyes can you see my art?

Or the poetry written deep in my heart?

When you hear my voice, do you hear my song?

Or are all my words on the wind - blown away, gone.

But what if I told you I have scaled mountains?

I have kayaked down rivers, danced in highland fountains.

That I have crossed glaciers, by foot and on skis,

walked until I was exhausted, then crawled on my knees.

Are you surprised? Would you think that of me?

Standing beside you, I am small, I am light.

My voice will not carry, I would not win in a fight,

I am feminine, womanly, girlish, petite.

I am easy to crush. I am easy to beat.

But I am also, mother, daughter, sister, all three

So made of much harder stuff than you think I might be.

I am friend. I am enemy. I am lover. I am wife.

Just don’t make assumptions, when you think of my life.