A Tribute
the subjugating power of Cleopatra
nine languages of suffocating words
protecting ancient autonomy
amidst her extravagant economy
the girl who defied Taliban threats
the story of Malala’s resolute courage
and the fight for equality and education
to stabilize the home of social foundation
the beloved Good Queen Bess
so unequivocally “married to the throne”
bringing chaos to its knees
and her conquest of the seas
The Declaration of Sentiments
He has compelled her to submit to laws,
in the formation of which she had no voice
Elizabeth Stanton now opens the door to choice
“The Feminine Mystique” of both praise and criticism
Betty Friedan’s boldness of truth, awakening a nation
To a new life plan, we raise our glass
To courage and a new enlightened class
Escaping from slavery, Harriet Tubman appears
The underground railroad she builds
The track to freedom for aimless searchers
Looking for a new found perch
the cloistered Emily Dickinson, so astoundingly astute
a new voice for women of idiosyncrasy
carefully selecting her society, controlling the disposal of her time
the woman in white, with her slant of rhyme
Shirin Ebadi so noble in her initiatives
And universal in glow
Children and refugees, and pro bono cases
Fighting for those, of nefarious chases
The Green Belt movement, so progressive in nature
Wangari Maathai led the way with vigour
Blending conservation and women’s’ rights
A modern realization, of holistic sights
the first women magistrate in the British Empire
Emily Murphy, of the Famous Five
The old Canadian law that said, “women should not be counted as persons”
This ideology, can only worsen
Helen Keller was a champion for the deaf
Enhancing their performance on the social stage
Speaking for labour rights and antimilitarism
Her soul to erase these worldly schisms
A poet Sappho of Meccan times
Devising the Sapphic stanza, of enduring legend
And her lyre was magical, and poetic too
Strummed to the songs of her sexual askew
Thwarting military leaders, and their condescension
Lifting a siege in nine short days
The anointed Maid of Orléans, Joan of faithful horde
Her divine banner, forty times that of a sword
In sophistication and humility
Rosa Parks, becoming the symbol of a decade
Refusing to obey the unwritten laws
Fearless before the social jaws
The lady with the lamp, the nurse of modern science
Translating a form of discrimination
From the unwanted sick to those of required favour
Dignifying their humanity, the future to savour
Audrey, a delicate symbol of class
A movie star but not made of glass
A frail body that travelled the globe
Giving and praying, in her princess robe
Women’s oppression as the second sex, by Simone de Beauvoir
Explaining existential feminism, the crime of civilization
Changing women from a natural spirit to the Other
From immanence to transcendence, an inferior brother
Mother Teresa, of saintly dignity and crown
A servant to the unfortunate, non- judgmentally chosen
Of free choice, my God, and out of love for you
I desire to remain and do whatever … I can do
A universal declaration of human rights
An early step in this giant project of international justice
Eleanor Roosevelt, “The First Lady of the World”
So kindly, she took us in her hand so furled
liberating women from the constraints, of corseted silhouette
sporty and chic, now the feminine display
and Coco prepared the woman for professional vocation
confusing men, of their questionable location
A suffragette of most aggressive guile
And the state of prisons, she spoke of in hunger
Emily Pankhurst, shaking society into a new fabric and mold
the stitches now stronger, with women in fold
Establishing her priority, for just recognition
Madame Curie, documenting with thorough efficiency
Fighting the race against her time
Often losing, the Panthéon in Paris, established her prime
“After Black Power,Women’s Liberation”
Gloria Steinem, A new voice for the times
"If Men Could Menstruate" she satirically coined
In a reversal role, of sexual purloin
DeaBeePea 3-8-17
I Wonder If