Poems Written by Women

Siren Song by Margaret Atwood

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.

Phenomenal Women 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.

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 in 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.

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.

They say you ain't posed to be here

You ain't posed to wear red lipstick

You ain't posed to wear high heels

You ain't posed to smile in public

You ain't posed to smile nowhere, girl

You ain't posed to be more than a girlfriend

You ain't posed to get married

You ain't posed to want no dream that big

You ain't posed to dream at all

You ain't posed to to do nothing but carry babies

And carry weaves

And carry felons

And carry families

And carry confusion

And carry silence

And carry a nation — but never an opinion

You ain't posed to have nothing to say unless it's a joke

Cause You ain't posed to love yourself Black Girl

You ain't posed to find nothing worth saying in all that brown

You ain't posed to know that Nina Beyonce Tina Cecily Shonda Rhimes shine shine shine

Black Girl,

You ain't posed to love your mind

You ain't posed to love

You ain't posed to be loved up on

You only posed to pose voodoo chile' vixen style

You posed to pop out babies and hide the stretch marks

You posed to be still

So still they think you statue

So still they think you a chalked outline

So still they keep thinking you stone

Until you look more medusa than Viola Davis

Until you sound more Shenaynay than Kerry Washington

Until you more side eye than Michelle Obama on a Tuesday

But You tell them you are more than a hot comb and a wash and set

You are Kunta Kinte's kin

You are a Black Girl worth remembering

And you are a threat knowing yourself

You are a threat loving yourself

You are a threat loving your kin

You are a threat loving your children

You black girl magic

You black girl fly

You black girl brilliance

You black girl wonder

You black girl shine

You black girl bloom

You black girl black girl

And you turning into a beautiful black woman right before OUR eyes.

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.

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