February 2022 – The Four Winds

Poem inspired by The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

She imagined living somewhere else
into the golden, glowing future--
A lady doesn't reveal emotion.

Passion is a thunderstorm;
I'm in awe of her fire.
Be brave. Or pretend to be. 
It's all the same.

A portal to a what-if world 
where ditch-dwellers 
turn into princesses.
A rebel instead of a dreamer,
as young women should always be.

The things your parents say become a mirror.
Tell me to be a nice girl
and be quiet, 
and keep working,
to be the kind of woman 
who suffered in silence.

Courage was a lie. 
It was just fear that you ignored.
The world can be changed by a woman's voice, 
even in a man's world.