On being a woman
- 29 de mar.
- 2 min de leitura
Declamação no encontro dos Poets of Mumbai em Andheri West, 29/03/2026.
A prayer on being a woman
Ana Paula Arendt
I thank You, God,
for the grace of being a woman born,
for the call to intimacy,
whenever a man draws near,
and even for being pushed away, forlorn,
once his need of me disappears…
The grace of being a woman still:
to be watched with guarded eyes,
a presumed threat of seduction – why?
Even if only a child in the square,
carrying no beauty fair,
no redeeming attire.
There is much grace in being a woman,
in seldom finding a friend
who does not wear a thousand shields,
a thousand masks to defend…
Who does not harbour some quiet fear
of being seen with me while I’m near.
There is such grace in being a woman,
watching women bend and retreat.
Forever trying to fit into molds, sooner and sooner.
A cast that never makes them complete…
Seeing many of them sad, yet through their ache
rise once more, and to a new speech awake.
To be a woman, and now and again
be told where I belong:
toendure the endless debates,
the shouting pain, the right and the wrong—
for or against whether the female
can sing her own song.
But to be a woman—a word spoken softly
like water gently filling all space,
to be the one who chooses my own name,
to be the one who chooses my own place…
The pleasure of distilling earth, becoming salty,
flowing the river of my own race.
Woman.
With the arc of one thousand tries,
With the light of a thousand moons,
With the strength of a thousand horses,
With the bloom of a thousand flowers.
Woman!
Out of the blue of a thousand skies,
the house of a thousand rooms.
With the fire of one thousand torches,
forged in this second of a thousand hours.
Woman!
To be a woman:
to live by our own feelings,
by our emotions,
by sweetness that fades,
by flowers that wilt,
by silences we have built,
by words that no longer are praised…
To witness today
What has always been on display.
To be a woman,
never knowing the place
where God will meet me,
from where He hides.
Never knowing the how, the turn, or the pace
when our joy will break
and raise the tides…
To be a woman—to be a mother, fair, just, and kind:
to be a place where man replenishes his heart and his mind
with comfort, affection, nourishment –or cost,
for according to what he asks, he will find
what he deserves most.
I thank You, God,
for being a woman.
Not just for the honour of conceiving new humans,
I thank You also for all that posed indifference
that cannot remain without serious offense…
It tell us that You have made ours
Your standing beauty,
Your enduring strength.
Comentários