Poetry is a tool to express feelings and influence the thoughts and opinions of others. Women throughout history have utilized this medium to express their history and their struggle for equality. Here is a list of some excellent poetry, written by and for women.
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“Post Feminism” by Brenda Shaughnessy
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“Helen” by H.D.
“Greece sees, unmoved, God’s daughter, born of love, the beauty of cool feet and slenderest knees, could love indeed the maid, only if she were laid, white ash amid funereal cypresses.”
-“Helen” by H.D.
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“Poem about My Rights” by June Jordan
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“[the girls speak to each other via the common tongue]: Feather or a Rock” by Ellen Welcker
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“A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde
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“A water woman has no body” by Lisa Ciccarello
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“Howl” by Amy Newman
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“Bear Witness” by Tiana Clark
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“The River of Girls” by Tishani Doshi
“This is the sound of ten million girls
singing of a time in the universe
when they were born with tigers
breathing between their thighs;”
– “The River of Girls” by Tishani Doshi
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“[we fight back to control the outside]” by kari edwards
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“from Raw Meditations on Money, 1. She Speaks: A School Teacher from South India” by Meena Alexander
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“Suddenly” by Sharon Olds
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“That Country” by Grace Paley
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“A Pain That Is Not Private” by Lara Mimosa Montes
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“A Double Standard” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
“No golden weights can turn the scale
Of justice in His sight;
And what is wrong in woman’s life
In man’s cannot be right. ”
-“A Double Standard” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
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“Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath
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“Planetarium” by Adrienne Rich
For more poems around this topic, check out the Poetry Foundation’s Women’s History Month Collection and poets.org’s Women’s History Month Occasion.
Happy reading!