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Poetry Friday round-up is with Catherine at Reading to the Core.
Catherine Flynn is rounding up Poetry Friday with an invitation to write poems that honor women. A few years ago Georgia Heard published an anthology of poetry entitled The Woman in this Poem. For International Women’s Day, I wanted to honor all the women poets who have influenced and inspired me. In the end pages of the book, Georgia lists all the first lines. I used these lines to write an ode to women poets.
Ode to Women Poets
All the women in this poem
have written first linesto draw me into their lives
offering me wafers of wordstranscending deserts of time and place:
I don’t remember how it began
I must’ve looked like I’m confidant,a reader all our life,
Woman to woman, poems lie
in our hands in crystals.me and you be sisters listening
Who says a woman’s work isn’t high art?We all sing the same song.
We know all the words.We’ve sung them while rocking
As the divine sea rocks.So much do we love.
We love and love and love.Sometimes I hear the wind in the trees
and feel your presenceThe people I love the best.
–Margaret Simon
First lines from these poets: Dorianne Laux, Patricia Kirkpatrick, Lisel Mueller, Lucille Clifton, Kate Farrell, Georgia Heard, Gabriela Mistral, Marge Piercy, Bronwen Wallace, Julia Alvarez, and Ruth Moose.
In searching for an image, I found this link to a lesson on women poets from Edutopia.
Reflections on the Teche 
I love how you drew from so much inspiration and speak to the connection of women poets and women in general. In moments when we feel alone, we must remember our contentedness! – Krista
Just lovely, Margaret.
We all sing the same song. Thank you for this poem, Margaret! xo
Yes, we all know the words, because we are women. What a great poem and a reminder on this special day.
Terrific idea and execution, Margaret. I esp. like “We’ve sung them while rocking/As the divine sea rocks.”
You sent me this book & I nearly shared it this week, Margaret! What a wonderful idea to craft from their first lines in your own poem. “We all sing the same song.
We know all the words.”
Beautiful!
‘We love and love and love.’ Repetition used to effect- and clever idea for inspiration.
“We all sing the same song” – what a fantastic way to honour those who inspire us.
“Who says a woman’s work isn’t high art?”–thanks for all these compelling lines woven together Margaret, beautiful.
Wow. So many beautiful lines….”Woman to woman, poems lie
in our hands in crystals.” I must get this book. I love the idea of the book and how you made those lines into a poem. I want to try that! Wow. Wow.
Hooray for all the women poets…including you…including all of our Poetry Friday Sisters!
This is beautiful with so many standout lines that I can’t pick a favorite. Though wafers of words was the first to create a goose-bump moment! I think I need to find this book.
What a great idea that could be transferred to honor others as well
What a brilliant idea! You’ve crafted a gorgeous ode to the women who’ve inspired you, and you are an inspiration to so many others. I especially love these lines:
“We all sing the same song.
We know all the words.”
Thank you for sharing, Margaret.
Tuesday morning: my latest Poetry Friday commenting ever! I’m owning it.
I love how you took these lines and reshaped them into a chorus of our sisters’ voices! I also didn’t know about this book…back to the library!