(Women’s Empowerment Poetry)
The curve of a woman
Is more than just breasts.
It’s where the arc of her journey
begins and rests.
She’s an intersection of lines
in a non-technical sense.
The curve of a woman
is more than just hips,
more than just her ass and tits.
It’s the ellipse of her lips
with the words she omits . . .
The curve of a woman
is in a hurricane’s fury.
It’s the ebb and the flow
of the ocean and sea.
It’s bending to serve
like a woven reed.
The curve of a woman
is a battlefield at best.
Its half-moon dark circles
beneath eyes that don’t rest.
It’s the unending endurance
of oppression and upsets.
The curve of a woman
is bold in her glow.
It’s Diana’s bow,
topaz and low.
It’s the horizon sloped
with new fallen snow.
The curve of a woman
is the sunrise and sunset.
It’s promises made and vows kept.
It’s the resilience and strength
in tears that she’s wept.
The curve of a woman
is seen and unseen.
It’s desire untamed,
and dreams never dreamed.
It’s the tangible tangled
with forces unseen.
The curve of a woman
defies straight and narrow.
It’s spiraling at midnight
to prepare for tomorrow.
It’s finding our power
with rosemary and yarrow.
It’s manifesting our strength
in our very last hour.
The curve of a woman
is not found in her hips,
not in her ass,
and not in her breasts.
It’s found in the round
of repetitive tests.
It’s found when she falls
and rises and then,
confronts the cycle
again and again.
And again.
And again.
Janine Phillips
March 13, 2024
Janina Grey 