Like a Girl

I swear I used to be able to write poetry once. Maybe not very good poetry, but actual poetry. This one, inspired by the Always (Proctor and Gamble) "Like a Girl" ad campaign, is more like a really bad essay broken up into verses, but it's what I've got.

Her name was Jeanne.

She was a peasant. She loved her country, 

She loved her church.

She led an army, and won a victory

And then another, 

Like a girl.

When she was murdered,

For so called witchcraft, 

her fame outlived her.

Now she’s a saint

Just like a girl.

Her name was Sacagawea.

She was a teen.

She was a mother.

She helped an expedition, 

Across the waters,

Across the mountains,

She guided the men,

Just like a girl.

Her name was Harriet.

She was a slave,

Who found her way free.

And she led others along a railroad,

Like a girl.

They followed markers

They followed the North Star

They followed quilts displayed on clotheslines

Made with stitches and patches

By many girls.

Her name was Florence.

She traveled with armies,

To nurse the soldiers,

Injured in battles planned by old men.

She nursed the wounded,

She heard their screams

She was unflinching 

When she came to tend them, 

Just like a girl.

Her name was Amelia.

She was a pilot,

She owned the sky.

It wasn’t men’s then,

It belonged to anyone.

So she explored it, 

And tried to conquer it

Just like a girl.

Her name was Rosa.

She rode a bus.

One day she planned it, 

She kept her seat

When someone else demanded it.

She did not waiver.

She sparked a movement,

Like a girl.