Linda M. Crate- Three Poems

blooming flowers

a woman is not defined
by only the contours
of her body,
but by her actions and the
words she not only
speaks but feels
and you will never know her
fully
even if you know every
curve of her body;
like a fading star you will charge
to burn her in your image only to
find it impossible
because her flames burn hotter
than yours ever could—
and you will
fade into the night and she will still
shine
because women are not flowers
to sit in your vases
but wildflowers with roots deeper than
trees
and forever shall they bloom.



malleable

i am soft as rose,
but i am
titanium
you will never shoot through
my heart;
it burns with flames
brighter
than the sun—
you think you know me because
my smile cast itself into
your dreams,
but if you continue this way
my fury will be the
bullet
that finds itself lodged into
your every nightmare—
don't mistake my kindness for weakness
for i can be as hard as i am soft
i am malleable
like clay,
and you are not the potter whose mold
i am meant to hold
for you a man
not God;
and i liked you once that does not mean
that you got the best of me or that
you'll ever have me or
those moments
i spend in your arms will last forever—
no,
i am a woman and you will hear me
roar before you are consumed
in your own flames of
lust.



definition of femininity

a woman is not only defined
by her beauty
or the curves of her lips
the dance of
her hips
the sparkle in her eye
or
blossoms of her breast,
and she is not
only defined by the men she
let take her flowers
or her thighs
the clothes she wears or words
chosen to say;
she possesses a heart and a soul
dreams and wishes
and feelings buried deep
within—
these define her as well,
but so few think
to look into those only thinking of
what they can take from her:
her time, her body, her self-worth and respect;
but for each time there is a season
so while she may shower you in peace
fret not there will be a time
of war and if nothing
else her friends will avenge her if she will not
take up arms for her own battle
because too long
women have been the victims of one another,
of men, and of society.