&: a dream

& i had a dream

where

all women built one another up

instead of tearing one

another

down,

& i had a dream

where the world was fair

and everyone was treated right;

love was the commodity

there was no room

for hate—

& i had a dream where everyone

could reach their dreams and be who

they were without fear and judgment and death,

and no one was starving for food or for

truth or knowledge;

& i had a dream

where beauty and peace were everywhere

there were no tears and there were no wars,

and queens recognized one another

without jealousy.

– linda m. crate

powerful woman

“a word after a word is power.”

— margaret atwood

i am a fountain

of words

a powerful force of nature

full of love, magic, and light;

i recognize that

some fear or hate me because they

don’t understand my power

but i will not be reduced by their

misinterpretations—

i am a powerful woman

smart enough to acknowledge that there’s nothing

about our gender that makes us weaker than

a man and wise enough to know they

torment us because they fear us

becoming powerful,

but in all their lashings of hatred and trying to rescind

our rights they only make us

stronger;

i refuse to back down because i am a moon daughter

who swallowed her words back for far too long

never wishing to make waves

drown in my hurricanes

should you be foolish enough to try to stop any woman

trying to reach her dreams.

– linda m. crate

more than history

how many women have the

men in history erased?

how many women have i never heard

of because they were seen as the

lesser sex?

i am more than a pretty face

meant for more than being a wife and mother

because my gender doesn’t define me

i do,

and i am more than just a person who was born

female;

i have passion, strength, and dreams—

but i also know

many women before me and after me will be the same

how many times must we fall before they

let us rise?

we deserve to get our credit, too,

for our roles in

history;

i have met some incredible women and i know they helped

mold me into someone inspiring,

and how many others that came before us were the same?

one day may they re-write the history books

to make them true,

and tell more than HIS STORY.

– linda m. crate

 

 Photography: “Alex The Great” 
Facebook www.facebook.com/alexthegreatphoto
Instagram www.instagram.com/alexthegreatphoto
Website: www.aleksandargligoric.co

Poet: Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has three published chapbooks A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press – June 2013), Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon – January 2014), and If Tomorrow Never Comes (Scars Publications, August 2016). Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. The second novel of this series Dragons & Magic was published in October 2015. The third of the seven book series Centaurs & Magic was published November 2016. Her novels Corvids & Magic and Phoenix Tears are forthcoming.

About Section 8 Squad 573 Articles
Global artists and writers dedicated to sharing creativity around the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.