Imagine a woman...

AIMS Journal, 2013, Vol 26, No 4

A poem by Patricia Lynn Reilly

Imagine a woman who believes it is right and
good she is a woman.
A woman who honors her experience and tells
her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within
her body and life.

Imagine a woman who trusts and respects
herself.
A woman who listens to her needs and desires.
Who meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past’s
influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.
A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on
her own behalf.
Who refuses to surrender except to her truest
self and wisest voice.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image
and likeness.
Who designs a personal spirituality to inform
her daily life.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough,
just as it is.
Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an
exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the
Goddess in her changing body. A woman who
celebrates the accumulation of her years and
her wisdom.Who refuses to use her life-energy
disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who values the women in her
life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself
when she forgets.
Imagine yourself as this woman.

Patricia Lynn Reilly