OK, I also wanted to do some women's poems.
Some would argue all of my poems are women's poems, but.
The first one is going to be the title poem from the borders
book which begins with a quote by Carol Gilligan.
My research suggests that men and women
may speak different languages that they assume are the same.
If we're so bright, why didn't we notice?
The side by side translations were the easy ones.
Our tongues tasted Luna chanting, chanting to the words
it touched.
Our lips circled moon sighing its longing.
We knew similar but different.
And we knew of grown up talk, how even
in our own home like became unlike, how the child sings
song I want, I want burned our mouth when
we whispered in the dark.
But us, you and I who've talked for years tossing words back
and forth success, happiness back and forth over coffee,
over wine, in parties, in bed.
And I was sure you heard, understood
though now I think of it.
I can remember screaming to be sure.
So who can hear the words we speak?
You and I like but unlike and translate us to us
side by side?