Self-Empowerment: A Poem

Sketch by Julie S. Paschold

You

common man

from this common world

with your wily ways

Beware

I am coming

I will stand

I am coming

I am here

Do not underestimate me

for I am woman

whose ancestors have taught

the sway of my hips

the curl of my tongue

the dance of my stance

the hold of my stare

the turn of my fist

the raise of my head

the glare of my pen

the length of my legs

the reach of my embrace

All you who dare

cross and stigmatize

lower and belittle

Sow what you reap

For one day the twisted vines you grow

will straighten

and bridge me over to soil

in clarification

of the true nature

from which you were birthed.

April 29, 2020

Julie Soaring Eagle Paschold