I am Woman

Don’t try to dilute my speech

– I’ll never turn the washed-out

grey of old sheets.

.

Don’t think you can censor

my speech or drown me out

like a noisy tap.

.

Don’t ask me to step aside

because I don’t sparkle

like glitter at Mardi Gras.

.

You know nothing

of who or what I am.

.

I am the surprise that lies in wait,

flexing its muscles,

turning its face towards golden light.

.

I am your sister, your aunt,

your mother, your daughter,

the grandmother you never knew.

.

I am love and life,

encircling and warming.

.

I am the red of fire in a grate;

the heat of sunshine.

.

I am the start and end of all life.

I am woman.

Watch me burn.