In Dona's opinion, this poem may be one of her best efforts. In all honesty, in my opinion, I must agree with her. - poetheart 12/30/01
I am a woman, and I have lived...
I have known the sound of laughter from a child's heart,
That merrily singing bell of joy and gladness, in my youth
I have splashed through puddles in red rubber boots
I have swung upside down in a dress on a swingset
I have wrecked on a bicycle and fallen on roller skates
I have colored both inside and outside the lines with crayons
I have been enclosed in the warmth of my grandmother's lap
I have been bounced giddily on my grandpa's knee
I have known the coolness of the evening breezes
After the sultry, sticky heaviness of a summer day
I have ridden an inner tube down a swift-running creek
I have caught horned toads and lizards with my hands
I have known the taste of berries picked and washed
Red juicy sweetness on my tongue, and whipped cream
I have fallen in and out of love a dozen times in high school
I have loved the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis
I have known in person the exalted music of a symphony
The crescendo, an orgasm of sound, the lonely oboe's wail
I have sat in enraptured silence as the melody surrounded my soul
I have known the warmth of strong hands, the love of a gentle man
I have known the pain of childbirth and the triumph of enduring it
The joy of the newborn, the suckling and joining in the bond of love:
The giving of life, the sharing of mother's milk with sweet innocence
The long nightwatch of care and the relief of silence and earned rest
I have known the tearful waiting for a child's return from wandering
I have known the painful sorrow of separation from such growing-up
I have known passion and companionable silences shared with a lover
I have known anger and guarded silences, and bitter tears of regret
I have known the touch of a friend when grief had torn my life to shreds
I have known awful coldness and stillness, my mother's face, in death
I have known the truth of friendship, and the falseness of enemies
I have endured pain and sorrow, grief and suffering, and survived
I have triumphed, even in the twilight of my life, and witnessed the light
I have attempted to gain understanding of pain other than my own
I have learned and in learning seen how so much remains incomprehensible
I have gleaned and sifted and sorted and rearranged within my ignorance
I am a woman and I have lived...
by Dona Lou Pearson