Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ A Woman's Day

Remise du Prix Sakharov à Aung San Suu Kyi Strasbourg 22 octobre 2013-18.jpg
Source





"In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not 
merely tolerated but valued."


 Aung Sang Suu Kyi (1945–)
International Women's Day.  *UN WOMEN Photo: UN Women/Fernando Bocanegra  

       




Midweek Motif ~ A Woman's Day

This Sunday, March 8th is International Women's Day.  This year's theme is "Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!”   So let's "Picture It" with empowering images:

In 2015, International Women’s Day, celebrated globally on 8 March, will highlight the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a historic roadmap signed by 189 governments 20 years ago that sets the agenda for realizing women’s rights. While there have been many achievements since then, many serious gaps remain.  - See more HERE.
B20 brochure cover



Your Challenge:  
Let your poem show how a woman is special. 

Choose anyone you want famous or not, living or dead.



For Ben’s project he must research five facts
about his African-American hero and write them
on posterboard. He chooses Harriet Tubman,
whose five facts are: Her father’s name was Ben.
Her mother’s name was Old Rit. She was born
in 1820 and died in 1913. She was born in Maryland
and died in New York. Ben asks for advice
about his fifth fact and I suggest: She led more than
300 people to freedom. Ben sighs the way he does
now and says, Everyone knows that, Mom.

. . . . 
(Read the rest HERE at the Poetry Foundation)


     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.
. . . .   

(Read the rest HERE at Poem Hunter.)


For those who are new to Poets United:  
  • Share only original and new work written for this challenge. 
  • Post your Women's Day  poem on your site, and then link it here.
  • If you use a picture include its link.  
  • Please leave a comment here. 
  • Visit and comment on our poems.
(Our next Midweek Motif is "A Man's Day")

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23 comments:

  1. I am sharing two today. The first is in homage to Anna Akhmatova whose poems were written in ashes. My second is for all women who have loved and lost (a spouse, lover, or child.)
    Women are created to endure much - I raise my glass in celebration of woman and her daily courage!

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    Replies
    1. I raise my glass with you, Leslie. Bravo!

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  2. Thank you for the prompt - i am not sure if this is a little girl's day or a woman's day - maybe both make up who 'we' are...happy Wednesday to all...now to think about boys (eurgh says Alice ;)

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    Replies
    1. I hope both, for always. I carry gratitude (and forgiveness) for my younger self. Thank you again for your vision.

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  3. Hey Poets! I have overslept by an hour, and thus begins this woman's day! I am off to feed the cat and make coffeee and then I'll be around to read and to write. I've many poems about women so I could cheat and post an old one, but I have a few ideas percolating ...

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    Replies
    1. Cats and coffee..what more could any woman want :)

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    2. Yep, I'm with Jae Rose on this one! Cats and coffee :)

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  4. Today a few lines about a woman's spiritual organisation in our town and about the lady in whose name the organization began after almost thirty five years after her death....another wonderful prompt Susan...

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sumana. Thanks for another wonderful poem.

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  5. I posted a very rough poem. I want to write about so many woman. Here, I want to give others Maragaret Fell speaking from prison--a day, one day--but have to do a lot more research and allow myself time to empathize with her there. This is not going to happen today. But at least the idea is born. Happy International Women's Day.

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  6. I see we are going to meet some very wonderful women this morning. I have written about my subject before and did nab one central image from the old poem. But it is a new one otherwise. I have given myself a Day Off, so badly needed, so I will be around online, when I am not on the couch watching a movie, LOL. Sooooooo tired!

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    Replies
    1. Happy you are here, Sherry, lending your voice to the great women of the world.

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  7. I didn't write about anyone well known. But I know her well. Thanks for the prompt Susan.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Myrna. I wonderr if you see yourself in her?

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  8. Just one portrait...thank you, Susan for the meaningful post.

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  9. Susan,

    I have tried to recount in a poetic form, my actual experience with an interesting woman I met on a train journey in Switzerland..She changed my views on poverty and helping others. I admired her perception with relation to her own African homeland.

    Eileen

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    Replies
    1. You captured that and more. I think we could each write a book about learning from these not-quite-coincidental encounters.

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  10. This is a very emotional prompt for me. Wow. Gut-wrenching and raw. Still working on it. But, thank you for the challenge.

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    Replies
    1. I think this is a prompt to carry for years, to write to again and again. Thank you, CC.

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  11. Thanks for the wonderful prompt.

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  12. That's all for this week, folks--but tomorrow is Interntional WOmen's Day, so I hope you will keep it i mind as you greet all the marvelous women in your life!

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