Creating Strong Girls

I.                     Practical Skills

 

This is how you start a friendship.

This is how you start a tomato plant.

This is how you start a fire.

This is how you start a war.

This is how to cook an egg one way (there are many),

This is how to feed 5 people when you have $2, and 1 egg.

This is how to feed a hummingbird,

This is how you train and feed a dog.

These are the real names for the parts

of your body, and this is how they work,

and this is how to care for them.

This is deodorant. This is the right shampoo

for your hair. This is how to deal

when menstruation is painful, this is how

to ask for a day off when that pain is

too much. This is how to not drive  

when you are drunk, this is how to keep

a man from following you, at night

this is how to know who is trying to violate

or rob you. This is how to defend yourself

against an attacker, a false friend,

and conspiracy theorists.

This is how to protect loved ones

and strangers, in a pandemic. This is how

to disinfect a floor. This is how

to end the life quickly of something

that is suffering or that otherwise needs killing.

This is how to bury a pet.

This is how to know and find your style

This is how to make your eyes look bigger,

this is how to make your b***s the size you want.

This is how to graduate.

This is how to apply for a job,

this is how to apply for a credit card

and open a bank account. This is how

to protect your bank account.

This is how to demand a promotion.

Here is how to enjoy eating alone.

Here are several ways to prevent pregnancy,

This is who you can trust if you need

to end a pregnancy. This is who to trust

if you need to end a friendship,

end a living situation, leave a toxic job.

This is how to raise your voice.

This is how to report an abuser.

This is what you need to know, to grieve.

And this is how to gracefully end a war.

II.                   Practical Love

 

This is how you know

if you like boys, girls, both, or neither.

This is how to say if and when and where

and how, you want to be touched.

Here is how to know if someone

can be trusted with your heart,

and how to let them in.

This is how to flirt.

This is how to talk to a partner about sex,

here is how to talk to a partner

about God, and how not to;

here is how to talk to a partner

about exclusivity and a space

at their dinner table.

This is how to talk to a partner about children,

this is how to talk to your parents,

about your partner.

This is how to protect a secret, 

this is how to defend a loved one, 

this is how to defend a cause. 

Here is a book about giving yourself

an orgasm so you never need to stay

with a bad partner; here is another

about how to give an orgasm to that partner

who deserves your heart.

This is how you feed a lover.

This is how you feed a relationship.

This is how you feed a life,

this is how and when to let someone

into it. Here is how you love someone

who is sick, here is how to love someone

who is broke. Here is how to love someone

who is too scared to be loved.

Here are ways to move your body with joy

and sing. Here is how to love

every emotion, even the ugly ones.

Here is how to know when you need

to leave a relationship. Here is how

to sit with yourself after a partner dies.

Here is how to sit with a friend whose partner

has left. Here is how to prepare a lover

for the loss of you, the necessary changing

of you, that inevitable way

you will change, them.

 

III.                 Practical Magic

 

 

This is how to read a sonnet, and this

is how to write them, and this is why

we listen to poetry. Here is the right setting

to take a perfect picture

of the moon; here is how to take a picture

of a hummingbird; here is how to make

your friend feel good about the picture you took

of them. Here is who you can trust

to take your picture in lingerie.

This is how to make, fire, and, glaze

a bowl. This is how you compliment

a good chef. This is how to paint a rose,

this is how to use the perfect tomato

you grew in a recipe for your lover.

This is how to read a novel while

waiting in line at the dentist, this is why

your hairdresser and best friend

know you best. This is how to press

a flower, this is how to get rid of

a boring white wall. This how to find

the courage to paste glow in the dark stars

to your ceiling for the nights

it is impractical to sleep under real ones.

This is how to sleep on the ground

and this is how to sleep on a train.

This is how to find the courage to paint,

to read your poetry, to sing

for a lover. This is how to move your hips.

This is how to save money

to go meet your favorite author

or see your favorite band or buy

a perfect piece of jewelry for you.

This is how to grow flowers for your table.

This how to dye your hair blue.

This is how to curse, and this is how

to tell someone to go to hell when

they criticize you for dying your hair

or taking naked pictures or having

too many lovers or for your art

not being museum ready. This is how

to inhale in a pine forest, and this is how

to climb a mountain barefoot. This is how

to write to own your story, and this is how

to publish it, and this is how to know

who deserves, to read it.

 

 

 

Reviews

[emmajoygreen]

Hello! You're still working for your 'adopted' people, still fighting on their behalf to reach their goals.. and you, in a way, your own. What an incredible post, how many subjects - left right and centre.

I hope your poets are still working at their writing, you used to send so many entries for the collaboration.

Take care of yourself, keep safe.. and hopefully, smiling with satisfaction and a hint of pride.. :)

[Marie Anzalone]

Happy birthday, dear Emma! Yes, we are still writing, and very actively. I recently wrote this in celebration of world poetry day and the work I am supporting here.

https://www.writerscafe.org/writing/hauntedfox/2845159/

We would love to be part of the collab again! I had honestly not seen any posts for it the last two years, and last year especailly was very very tough fo rme- my family disowned me and my fathe rdied at the same time. I was in therapy for 3 months to save my life and spent those 4 months practically without food or internet. I had a banana and a piece of bread for Christmas to give you some idea how tough things got.

I was an invited poet at an international festival last summer and this poem was one of the ones I read for an event for young univeristy students. The school directors asked if they could use it for their curriculum, so it is actually going into literature textbooks for one of our states.

I am sooooo thrilled tohear from you! Huge hugs for your birthday.

[emmajoygreen]

Will message you in a couple of hours, rather than here. So when you have time, look out for a message from me. Is that alright.. want to refer to you, personally but, privately ( YOu )

Meantime, congratulations on your very wonderful work.

[Ken e Bujold]

Wow!!!! This is how you engross a reader. Thank you for the absolutely fantastic read Marie

Ken e