A Woman Speaks
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Moon marked and touched by sun
my magic is unwritten
but when the sea turns back
it will leave my shape behind.
I seek no favor
untouched by blood
unrelenting as the curse of love
permanent as my errors
or my pride
I do not mix
love with pity
nor hate with scorn
and if you would know me
look into the entrails of Uranus
where the restless oceans pound.
I do not dwell
within my birth nor my divinities
who am ageless and half-grown
and still seeking
my sisters
witches in Dahomey
wear me inside their coiled cloths
as our mother did
mourning.
I have been woman
for a long time
beware my smile
I am treacherous with old magic
and the noon's new fury
with all your wide futures
promised
I am
woman
and not white.
Lots of power packed into those words and lines. I'd like to dive deeper into this poem later. The lack of punctuation adds to multiple readings.
ReplyDeleteI, you, and our POV.
Unwritten
ReplyDeleteUntouched
Unrelenting
Emptier opposites than the same words that could have been used: clean, pure, etc
Flips the emotion of the poem to cold, darker tones, regret.
Moon, sea, blood, Uranus, birth, divinities, magic....almost likes she wants to open herself up to more of the majesty, but has also sworn herself to the coldness.
Water on Uranus?!
Nice catch with the "Un" words. I like that.
DeleteI don't know much about Uranus (almost a fun pun), but oceans do not have be water. Oceans on Earth are water. Other planets could have other liquids, lakes, rains, or oceans.
Game changer, http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-01/diamond-oceans-may-cover-neptune-and-uranus
DeleteUranus might have oceans of liquid diamonds.
Pun, indeed. Who knew?!
Delete