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January 26, 2017

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Poetry

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Ferocious Women

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Ferocious Women
who never bring you coffee
dream in poetry

warm art in their core
climb like smoke from a fire
leave a wild song

stir alive
wizards and wolves
in a rush of green and gold and gray

weather awful times
shake-awake the world to good
wear their stories with a smile

eat masks, drip truth,
radical truth,
(I do not exaggerate)

find joy in life
moments to intertwine
connect, concentrate

make a ferocious dinner
drink the wind in exaltation
save softness for dessert

Ferocious Women
storm in words that endure,
fearless

Copyright 2017 Brenda Davis Harsham

Notes: This poem was written in homage to the January 21, 2017 Women’s March, which took place in 600 cities and was an historic outpouring of world-wide support for women’s justice and rights. I wrote a poem about the march called America the Beautiful. I also wrote this poem, inspired by and utilizing the following lines, collected by Donna Smith, contributed by the following Poetry Friday regulars (including me):

  • Buffy S: “ferocious women who never bring you coffee” – refrigerator magnetic poetry
  • Donna S (instigator extraordinaire): “always leave a wild song” – refrigerator magnetic poetry
  • Linda B: “dreaming women do art in poetry” – from her pile of poetry blocks
  • Buffy S: “where wizards and wolves rush by in a blur of green and gold and gray” – patched together from Kate Dicamillo’s Where Are You Going Baby Lincoln
  • Kay: “ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones” from Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five
  • Linda M: “waking the world to a new day“
  • Margaret S: “steam that climbs like smoke from a fire“ 
  • Carol V: “fearless women reach out, connect, and find joy in life’s intertwined moments” – Connecting to the word “fearless” that April had used last week.
  • Tabatha Y: “little chest to put the Alive in” – Emily Dickinson
  • Joy: “wear loose clothing and a smile” – from a thought and some connections
  • Jan GA:  “I feel like there should be more stories out there for girls, and I try to tell them” – a quote from Hope Larson from the book COMICS CONFIDENTIAL.
  • Mary Lee H: “ferocious women do not exaggerate” – from Mary Oliver’s UPSTREAM on page 109, “I do not exaggerate.”
  • Brenda H: “make a ferocious dinner that eats masks, drips truth and saves softness for dessert“
  • Keri L: “radical at their core” from her husband’s magazine, “Guns & Ammo”
  • Kiesha S: “ferocious women would rather drink the wind” – a line from Mary Oliver’s (Why I Wake Early) titled “The Arrowhead”
  • Diane M: “Out of endurance, exaltation” – a line from the poem “Monadnock” by Robert Francis.


Poetry Friday Badge

Thanks to Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink for hosting Poetry Friday this week! I look forward to reading more poetry, some of it Ferocious, at the link up. Have a magical weekend!

If you want to take up Donna’s Poetpourri Challenge to make a poem from those lines, you can check out these links: it starts here and has guidelines here. The bloghop linkup is at Mainly Write.

112 thoughts on “Ferocious Women”

  2. So pleased Christy directed me here to your poem, I missed so many .. Wonderful and inspiring
    “stir alive wizards and wolves”… Indeed.. May the Magic of Women all over the world keep uniting our wands to cast our spells upon the hearts of others.. xxx Love and Hugs Sue

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  5. Reblogged this on Poetic Parfait and commented:
    I read this poetic tribute to women today and had to share it! The poem is written by Brenda Davis Harsham and it beautifully encompasses the strength of females.

    As Brenda explains in the post, she wrote it in homage to the January 21, 2017 Women’s March. I think it is relevant every day ♥

    P.S. I had to pick between posting this at Poetic Parfait or When Women Inspire – it was a tough choice as it’s a blending of the two subjects!!

    P.P.S. Have a great day 🙂

    ~Christy

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  19. Love that image of the woman dripping truth…and the wonderful collection of source lines. I’m thinking I might like to play with some of the lines myself and see what happens!

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  21. I’m in awe of this effort. Such beautiful weaving. Bravo! My favorite stanza is:
    make a ferocious dinner
    drink the wind in exaltation
    save softness for dessert
    I thought I’d give the lines a try but it seemed to difficult. I love how you and other poets have taken on the challenge. Poets on the front lines!

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    • Thanks, Linda. I enjoyed the effort to make a coherent narrative out of those lines that celebrates our coming together for the march. It was incredibly brave of women to carry explicit signs rejecting being a victim, and instead, celebrating our ability to incubate life.

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    • It took a lot of editing and evaluating every word to see if it was the very best word. To check back and see if I had used the gist of each line. I wanted a certain idea, a glimpse of the pain, of the choices, of the lives of women. Yet to end on us making history. It was hard, but I had great stuff to work with. Thanks for commenting!

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    • You’re right, Derrick. People are talking about the march and will be for some time. I think the seeds of this date from his election rather than his inauguration, and the collection of lines builds toward the march. It was fascinating to me the way it developed. Thanks for reading!

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