"Women are Powerful and Dangerous"
- Maranda Fluet
- Apr 27, 2020
- 2 min read
For those of you that love poetry and the written word, I recommend reading Audre Lorde. She was born in New York City, where the chaotic bustle of every day life molded her into a feminist-warrior and civil rights activist. She lived from 1934-1992 and acted as a stone in still waters, causing ripples for women to dip their toes in. At school, she was said to recite poetry in response to normal conversation. Audre has been writing since twelve years old, and has been published in magazines, collections, and books.
Audre inspired women everywhere to stand up for themselves and remain hopeful through pains of life. According to the Poetry Foundation website, Audre underwent breast cancer and became a voice for such a silenced topic.
"In The Cancer Journals, Lorde confronts the possibility of death. Recounting this personal transformation led Lorde to address the silence surrounding cancer, illness, and the lived experience of women. For example, Lorde explained her decision not to wear a prosthesis after undergoing a mastectomy in the Journals: “Prosthesis offers the empty comfort of ‘Nobody will know the difference.’ But it is that very difference which I wish to affirm, because I have lived it, and survived it, and wish to share that strength with other women." (Poetry Foundation)
Cancer itself is such a giant topic. My own family has been victim to the looming monster, some more recent as well. For me, it is never easy to speak about, let alone write about. Audre writes with such sword-sharp distinction in her voice and style. Her feminist tones throw fierce edges into each word and force hope into your soul as you read, whether you want it or not.
“I have found that battling despair does not mean closing my eyes to the enormity of the tasks of effecting change, nor ignoring the strength and the barbarity of the forces aligned against us. It means teaching, surviving and fighting with the most important resource I have, myself, and taking joy in that battle. It means, for me, recognizing the enemy outside, and the enemy within, and knowing that my work is part of a continuum of women’s work, of reclaiming this earth and our power, and knowing that this work did not begin with my birth nor will it end with my death. And it means knowing that within this continuum, my life and my love and my work has particular power and meaning relative to others.”
― Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals
In trying to find a hard copy of The Cancer Journals again, I found one on eBay for about $96.00. Luckily, Penguin is about to release another edition on October 13th, 2020. I truly recommend pre-ordering one here, or purchasing one of her poetry books here. Honestly, she has been an inspiration to me in my writing, my self-confidence as a female entrepreneur.
Seriously, I have so many goosebumps reading the poem below. I hope you all feel her power as I do right now.
I would love to have a conversation about this or any of her other poetry. Comment below if you've read anything by her before. Has her work inspired you?
Stay Fierce, Valkyrie!
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