Duty to our daughters

And at 17 we imagine ourselves as women,

fluttering about the world, 

held aloft by wings of potential

and the first taste of being desired.

Sweet and ambitious, we good girls,

weep over our inadequacies, 

and laugh triumphantly among friends 

about our successes.

We save away ourselves from foolish suitors,

whilst longingly pursuing those considered worthy

by newborn eyes.

Eventually we learn,

learn that our mothers, grandmothers,

teachers, and mentors are right.

Being a woman comes with rights

and responsibilities.

It's the miracle of our own humanity

that truly shocks us into womanhood.

Whispers quietly in our ear that

we aren't the first and won't be the last 

to walk barefoot through a field.

Reassures us that to be human

is to lose and find,

and that to be woman

is a gift, full still of potential

and awe.