The poems in our ongoing “Liberating Words” series were written in an interdisciplinary course for high school juniors at The Winsor School, an all-girls school in Boston, Mass. The course, “The Personal Is Political: An Interdisciplinary Look at Feminism,” is co-taught by Libby Parsley, a History teacher, and Susanna Ryan, an English teacher. The second unit of the course focuses on the history and literature of second-wave feminism—the women’s liberation movement of the 1960’s and 70’s. Students read a compilation of poems by women writers from that period and then wrote their own poems; the assignment asked them to represent an issue or problem they see as central to 21st-century women’s experience through the very personal genre of poetry.
Is It Too Late For Me?
by Lia Kornmehl
but no, what, what would they do,
without me there?
i could be independent,
be my own Woman?
put on high heels, high bun,
too high expectations.
what if i fall. or even worse,
get pregnant.
another obstacle,
a return to Normal.
yes, I suppose they could do all this,
without me.
i could see what it feels like,
see if I could get a Man to have me,
maybe even get off my high horse.
me? able to be, Normal?
what if no one loves me, or i,
am i not fit to be a mother?
surrounded, yet alone.
i need someone.
and then i see her,
over There,
a blank stare, back at me.
and i wonder.
