What does it mean to be a woman?
To be feminine and velvety as you move about
yet take no guff while not concealing your womanly essence
To move a mans heart with the flicker of your brow, turn of your smile
yet not to seduce his unguarded will to a mordant consequence
To know the value of a spoken or unspoken word
yet never speak when truly out of turn
To take the lead when a neighbor or friend in need
yet to know when it is just your perceptions
To hold a child tightly in guidance
yet surrender to their thrashing to be
loosed to their own devices
To regard your feelings as a pearl to be polished
yet know that a bruised heart cannot
be the center of a home
To be a woman is to know
that for your having been here
the world is better
yet in all God’s wisdom the whole
world it is not determined by you
and you are glad for it