She Inspires Me

I heard a woman becomes herself

The first time she speaks

Without permission

Then every word out of her mouth

A not

Say beautiful

And point to the map of your body

Say, brave

And wear your skin like a gown or a suit

Say, hero

And cast yourself in the lead role

When a girl pronounces her own name

There is glory

When a woman tells her own story

She lives forever

All the women I know are perennials:

Marigolds, daffodils

Soft things that refuse to die

If this poem is the only thing that survives me

Tell them I grew a new tongue

Tell them I built me a throne

Tell them when we discovered life on another planet it was a woman

And she built a bridge, not a border

I heard this is how you make history

This is how you create a new world.