The Hand on the Loom
Yesterday's Poetry Fishbowl had a fascinating theme: 'Influential women'. A series of prompts combined in inspiring ysabetwordsmith to write Rarely Well Behaved .
While I like her work and I get her point, I must admit that I have trouble with the last verse, because, well one can be a good girl and sit at the loom because she doesn't know any better, but one can also choose freely to do it, not waiving any right in the process.
So, following the age-old tradition of answering a poem with a poem, here is mine
They say: “ It’s out of fashion”,
“ You are limiting yourself” they say,
“ You could be so much more”,
“you are throwing away our efforts”.
They feel diminished somehow,
these proud women of progress
that one of us could, knowingly,
choose to be ‘just a housewife’.
But I’m not ‘just’ anything, sisters.
I choose the path I walk on, just like you;
With my eyes open, with my weapons ready.
I know my strenghts, my weaknesses.
I am here, building my home no matter what,
Guarding and preserving what I do love
With all my powers of mind and body
Just like you do, in your own way.
If you fight for the right to choose, sisters,
Then respect mine, just to begin.
Why is for some so hard to believe
That I know what I’m doing,
That home, and husband, and children
Are just what I want and need for myself.
Just as you fight your war outside
I fight for my cause right here
One thought at time, one word at time,
Raising my children to be decent people
Who think, who question, who love,
who can choose their own path
Being there as a mother, a teacher
An equal partner with a brain, a soul
And hands that are at ease in the kitchen
And on the looom, because there is where
My talents lie. Why should I pretend
Otherwise to make you happy, sister?
It was known once, long ago,
The old ones had it right:
“ The woman at the loom, one thread at time,
may weave the fate of nations”.
I'm working on getting some of my works published as e-books, if you like my writings and would like to show support tips are appreciated.
While I like her work and I get her point, I must admit that I have trouble with the last verse, because, well one can be a good girl and sit at the loom because she doesn't know any better, but one can also choose freely to do it, not waiving any right in the process.
So, following the age-old tradition of answering a poem with a poem, here is mine
They say: “ It’s out of fashion”,
“ You are limiting yourself” they say,
“ You could be so much more”,
“you are throwing away our efforts”.
They feel diminished somehow,
these proud women of progress
that one of us could, knowingly,
choose to be ‘just a housewife’.
But I’m not ‘just’ anything, sisters.
I choose the path I walk on, just like you;
With my eyes open, with my weapons ready.
I know my strenghts, my weaknesses.
I am here, building my home no matter what,
Guarding and preserving what I do love
With all my powers of mind and body
Just like you do, in your own way.
If you fight for the right to choose, sisters,
Then respect mine, just to begin.
Why is for some so hard to believe
That I know what I’m doing,
That home, and husband, and children
Are just what I want and need for myself.
Just as you fight your war outside
I fight for my cause right here
One thought at time, one word at time,
Raising my children to be decent people
Who think, who question, who love,
who can choose their own path
Being there as a mother, a teacher
An equal partner with a brain, a soul
And hands that are at ease in the kitchen
And on the looom, because there is where
My talents lie. Why should I pretend
Otherwise to make you happy, sister?
It was known once, long ago,
The old ones had it right:
“ The woman at the loom, one thread at time,
may weave the fate of nations”.
I'm working on getting some of my works published as e-books, if you like my writings and would like to show support tips are appreciated.