Uncommon Curiosity

I am a wonder of creation.

I am round and warm and soft in a world that isn’t.  I can inspire war, and peace, with a shimmy or a glance.  I can read the news and make it sound like sex.  I am magical in the classroom and unstoppable in bed.  My fingers are like divining rods for orgasms; my lips have been celebrated for centuries in prose and verse.  I can run like a cheetah and meditate like a yogi.  I can walk in 6-inch heels and march in sneakers.

When I cook, the flavors sing out like prayers to the kitchen gods and when I mourn, even the saints bow their heads.  I make youth look like a drug and age look like a blessing. My smile could power a small city, and my laughter inspires such euphoria that lesser drugs are put to shame.  I kiss wounds and they heal.  I can mend a broken heart, inspire a life and banish fears, all with the mere presence of my being.  My soul is immortal, but my desires burn with the fiery passion of earth and sky –  I live and love in muddy fields and satin sheets.  I am strong enough to bring a man to his knees, and when I make love to a woman, her moans are sweeter still than even the finest symphony.  The world itself ceases to move in the moment I conquer ecstasy.

I am strong and smart and willing to do whatever it takes to make the world right, even when I am undervalued and underestimated at every turn.  I am beautiful, I am resolute, and I am capable of more love than you could ever imagine.  I am your sister, your daughter, your wife and your best friend.  I am ancient and I am naïve.  I am your grandmother and your Baba Yaga;  I am the bones of your civilization and the memory of all that’s come before.  I am stories by the fireside and promises of the future.  I am your brightest hope for a better tomorrow.

I was born innocent.  I live, and love, with a ferocity that puts lions to shame.  I cry, I fear, I hurt and I die with more conviction in my little finger than you’ve ever known, and when my bones are returned to Mother Earth, my soul will soar across the heavens to inspire generations to come.

I am proud of my sisters, lifting them on my back to reach the sweetest fruit, even as they are lifting me.  We stand together for the world, not against it.  I am a strong shoulder, a trustworthy friend and a sympathetic ear.  I am a tomboy, a princess, a warrior and a queen, and I refuse to let anyone tell me who I am.  I am courageous on my own, and a revelation standing in solidarity with my tribe.

I am love.  I am sex.  I am patience and I am anger.  I am dark and light and I bring color to your world.  I am grace and strength, intelligence and faith.  I might be a lady, but I’m never your pushover.   I will cry out for justice and command your respect.  I am as strong as a thousand mountains when I stride in the footsteps of my ancestors and

I will not stand down.