Gwendolyn Glover

Gwendolyn Glover
Location
Europe,
Title
Artist & Writer
Bio
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it, cling to it. I want to become acutely aware of all I’ve taken for granted." ~Sylvia Plath

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NOVEMBER 15, 2009 8:20PM

I am a powerful woman; I eat things (a poem)

Rate: 28 Flag

I am a powerful woman
I eat things 

I open my mouth
and eat
all the darkness outside
I open my mouth
and chew
on the bones of broken dreams 

I am a powerful woman
I eat things 

Between my lips is a wide hole with teeth
I bite down
on hard, evil things
I bite down
and convert them into potent energy 

I am a powerful woman
I eat things 

I grow strong and thick
like a deciduous tree
I can carry chubby cheeked children
on my ample hips
I can bear much weight
on my scarred back and secure shoulders 

I am a powerful woman
I eat things 

I hunger for life
Eating is nourishment
for my blood, bones, and muscles
Arms that protect
Hands that heal
Feet that go places 

I am a powerful woman
I eat things 

I am not ashamed
I can swing my apple hips
to sultry music
I will not hide
I can lift my head high
to feel the sun on my face 

I am a powerful woman
I eat things 

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feminist poetry

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I am a powerful woman
I eat things

I love this refrain, Gwen. It's got lots inside to unpack, and you do it.
C.K. Dexter Haven
November 15, 2009 08:25 PM
You've got it goin' on here! Power defined in real terms . . . as it should be . . . a force of nature, connected to nature. I think of that even within Mother Nature - her ability to perform "natural attenutation" to simply overgrow, overcome, and keep on living in spite of the scars inflicted.
Owl_Says_Who
November 15, 2009 08:29 PM
Yes, eating things is good. The opposite of self- denial, that false ideal for women. A woman eating is provocative, sexy, even dangerous.
Sirenita Lake
November 15, 2009 08:32 PM
Wonderful. I love how you make being a woman a powerful thing of beauty and pride.
Elisa aka WAH
November 15, 2009 08:33 PM
Eat all you want as long as you keep swinging.
Powerful stuff.
Rated.
Thoth
November 15, 2009 08:40 PM
Wonderful poem. Beautiful
rated
micalpeace
November 15, 2009 08:51 PM
I bite down
on hard, evil things
I bite down
and convert them into potent energy

And I like this as well as the rhythm of the poem. Yes you are a powerful woman. You digest and divulge for the rest of us.
Polly Endicott
November 15, 2009 09:03 PM
excellent, gwen. food, feeding, strength. great stuff.
femme forte
November 15, 2009 09:41 PM
I am hoping that many women can transfer the potent energy you imparted to kinetic.
Traveller1
November 15, 2009 09:45 PM
Vwey well done. You could almost dance to those "lyrics".

Snaps and ratings.
Safe_Bet's Amy
November 15, 2009 10:26 PM
Great work, Gwendolyn. You've got a very interesting contrast between the powerful women who eat things and the unmentioned weak women who starve for others; the latter are like "negative space" in painting: there because they're not there, outlined by what you chose to put in--and the poem and the contrast are much stronger because you chose not to explicitly make the contrast.
Floyd Elliot
November 15, 2009 10:36 PM
Love this line

"I open my mouth
and chew
on the bones of broken dreams"

Eat it up - and move on!
Kris T Parker
November 16, 2009 12:07 AM
You are also a powerful writer. Excellent!
R~~
scanner
November 16, 2009 12:39 AM
Oh I haven't a clue what the hell you're talkin' bout, young lady, as cute as you are without yer glasses, sweaty, but it sounds like my dream would be better off not bein chewed upon, so I;ll keep it to m'slef, you cute little painter's wife. :-)
Boomer Bob
November 16, 2009 01:06 AM
You are awesome, Gwen! I love this. I eat things. Hehehe. Excellent!
Michael Rodgers
November 16, 2009 06:35 AM
I could "feel the sun" of your energy and power in this poem, its infectious rhythm, its memorable refrain, its strong and potent images--great job!!!
AtHomePilgrim
November 16, 2009 06:46 AM
This is a powerful poem. Thanks for sharing this feast with us.
Megan Stewart
November 16, 2009 09:17 AM
These are very empowering words, Gwen. I don't know why it has always been considered "unladylike" to eat one's fill and enjoy it, considering all the work that women are expected to do.

This harkens back to the words of Sojourner Truth, addressing a Women's Convention in 1851 about voting rights: "I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman?"
Jeanette DeMain
November 16, 2009 09:35 AM
I think of those socialist statues of women in Russia-- huge and powerful. Great images.
Lea Lane
November 16, 2009 09:37 AM
Thank you so much, everyone! I was so nervous about posting this poem because I'm not very good at poetry. I was reading about the response to the movie Precious and I read the last two of JustJuli's posts. I couldn't be silent. I had to share this. Thank you for such a wonderful response.
Gwendolyn Glover
November 16, 2009 10:38 AM
I love the way you tie in power for a woman with food, and with ampleness, and pride, and beauty. So often we are told as women our only power is in denial of food, of curves and of our pride. Brava!
AshKW
November 16, 2009 11:04 AM
This is so wonderful. Thank god you eat, hot stuff!
Caroline Hagood
November 16, 2009 12:17 PM
and, just so you know, the deeper implications come across.
Caroline Hagood
November 16, 2009 12:17 PM
Love this. Makes me think of the book APPETITES, which you have written such a potent antidote to the feelings the book expresses. It's cool that women have appetites, and I applaud your hunger. Eat on, Gwendolyn.
fingerlakeswanderer
November 16, 2009 01:50 PM
Incredible poem, Gwen :). Love it! Very glad you decided to post it!!!
lseitz
November 16, 2009 08:08 PM
This is beautiful. And so relevant. To this day I still have friends with eating disorders. Despite the fact that we are long out of college (when almost every girl had one it seemed), I still have friends who barf every meal to stay thin or purge with crazy amounts of exercise. It is so sad. I myself had an eating disorder in college and I got over it; I realized that I could not think well - my brain didn't work - without the nourishment of food. It was not worth it!!!!! Beautiful poem.
TheHideousTruth
November 17, 2009 12:07 AM
Forgive me for not being around much. I like this poem. You too.
bobbot
November 18, 2009 10:00 AM
You just took away so many regrets.
Sharona Selby
November 23, 2009 01:16 PM
Again, another one I think I missed, or at least I forgot to comment as it wouldn't let me rate it.
Anyway this is really good...I am not a huge fan of poetry but this is very well done, very good.
rated-at least once.
Jesse Mitchell
November 23, 2009 05:41 PM