I Never Knew..

Hey Beautiful!

Please enjoy the below poem entitled, “I Never Knew“, submitted by guest contributor, Ms. Schenita White.

xoxo, Racquel

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until I heard stories about what girls did to boys

under bleachers in gyms

and in bathroom stalls

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

Until I smelled the aroma of carrot cake and pound cake

Emanating from my grandmothers oven

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

Until I saw mother after countless mother

Raise hordes of children without the steady influence of a man

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

Until I developed a deep seeded hatred for the way Eve cursed us all

Until that red river flowed from me

Until my feminine parts rebelled against me

Until i realized the power I had over the male species

Until that power had power over me

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until I saw one

take the time to share with me

everything good inside her

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until I did the same

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until I witnessed Phyllicia Rashad on my tv screen

being the most regal vision of womanhood ever displayed

until I heard the words of India Aire

or Jill Scott

words that lifted and guided me

taught me and propelled me toward wholeness

Until I realized that their experiences were my experiences

until I understood that they were just like me

and I could be just like them

if I wanted to

but why would I want to

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until i realized that I had a choice

in my actions

in my attitude

in my life

I never realized what it meant to be a woman

Until I accepted that I had control

where I once thought it was lost

where there once was a little girl

now stood a woman

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until I became one

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until my body produced a life

until it nurtured and carried and formed

a being

until it brought forth beauty and breathe and magic

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until the life of another depended on me

I had seen it done but never truly understood the labor of love

that loving was labor

blood, sweat and tears

hard decisions

conscious thinking

constant humility

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until I realized that we weren’t taught to chase dream

I never knew what it meant to be a woman

until I the pipeline of dreams deferred

By little girls and little women and big girls and big women

Dried up like a raisin in the sun

Festering like a sore and then running

Running circles around the dreams they can’t seem to touch

I never knew what it meant to be a woman