Hard Women
I feel their grit inside my bones.
I keep quiet when they tell me to,
and do my work in secret.
Hard women built the edges of me.
I see their jaws in pictures.
Teeth set. Face of grief.
Hands on the plough,
Eyes straight ahead,
Babies in pockets and hanging on skirts.
Hard women built the edges of me.
Their graves on hills cast shadows
longer than the living
at the end of the day.
At the end of the day,
let me stand, Lord God,
in those shadows.
Straight up to the edges
made
by hard women.
16 thoughts on "Hard Women"
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Beautiful description, heroes.
Thank you Mike! (it’s my grandmothers and great grandmothers. Heroes very much to me)
The description of how you work in secret, with grit. The resignation of tough women. The LOVE in this poem. The prayer. I love this so much.
Thank you Manny <3
Grits- girls raised in the South! Well done!
Yes ma’am! (Thank you!)
Especially on Fathers Day, this poem stands STRONG.
Reminder that there are many, many women who deserve the praise today, too <3.
Oh wow I didn’t even think of the timing. Thank you Joseph!
Jane, this was the first poem I encountered this morning. It is one that spoke to me in the voice of a woman who gripped the handles of a plough. Thank you…
Thank you! That means a lot to me
The refrain echoes at the edge of the frame.
I love that! Thank you!
So many people need to read this poem… All the women in my life were and are hard women and they created who I am. Thank you!!!!
That’s a blessing. Thank you Tony
Hard women holding on, pushing through, demanding to be heard, seen, listened to – – – they build a world and train a kitten all in the same breath.
❤