Woman: From The Collected Poems of Ezrica Bennett Celebrating the Complexity of Womanhood
By Ezrica Bennett
She conceived a dream
and it grew within
Until fear and despondency
Brought that dream to an end
Stillbirth
She felt broken.
Stained
Like glass
Until she saw
the delicate color
And the masterpiece
Her broken pieces made
She curated peace
like a playlist,
deleting anyone or anything
that disturbed it.
She radiated freedom
like beams of light
because out of all the people she could be,
she finally chose to be herself
She nourished life with
her tongue
the words she spoke
caused gardens to flourish in
arid hearts
She gave life.
not just at birth,
but with every early morning,
and every smile,
with every late night,
through victory and trial
Life was cultivated through forfeited dream.
Through the pang of pain she felt and abandoned
for the betterment of me.
Willingly, she siphoned virtue from her veins
and transfused it into mine.
it wasn’t a trade,
it was a sacrifice
a miracle, a testament
A touch of the Divine
Image: “Din, une tres belle negresse #2” by Mickalene Thomas, 2012. Brooklyn Museum.
