Silvana Lezama: “Woman”

(“Tomorrow’s Voices Today“ is a new series curated by poet and educator Mike Sonksen.)

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Woman,
Don’t you see,
You move mountains with your breathing
You stop the most tragic hearts from bleeding
I don’t know if they told you at your birth
That there’s magic in your veins,
Liberation in your touch,
Medicine in your words,
Conviction in your stare.
What you speak, becomes existence
Every step, leaves a signature of your impact

Woman,
Don’t you know,
They tried to call you small
As if man’s baptisms don’t come from your waterfalls
As if breathing in the womb was done without you being involved
I don’t know if they reminded you of this
You didn’t come from a man’s ribs
Or lure him into sinning
You were prayed into existence
By gods and goddesses who needed vision
You burn at the stake for it
And wonder, why magicians were never called witches

Woman,
Don’t they see
They take your body for granted
Use your looks for branding
Call dibs on pussy for grabbin
Than shame you for making your choices
Don’t they know,
Your body is the first home
How do you compare that to a bottle of coke
As if those curves don’t have a serious significance
I saw you carry your son on those hips for years You bent over backwards,
Walked barefoot in the land of men
So your seeds can have pure soil to be planted in

Woman,
They show us they fear us,
But won’t say they see us
Missing numbers on a paycheck won’t define our status

They want to make our appearance into profit
But who we are doesn’t belong to them
Woman is the only reason the world works
Our children, we raised them
Our men, we healed them
Our enemies, we saved them
Our sisters, we showed them
a greatness that only a woman can encourage Don’t let the world confuse you
You belong to only you

What are you looking for?