There is so much I want to write here my heart could explode, but then I’d just be random bits of unfinished poems. See, I’ve been following  the #Yesallwomen hashtag conversation on Twitter and thinking about the #bringbackourgirls campaign and so much more.  And all of that makes me angry. That we still have so much more to go in our collective fight for freedom.

I’m not in the mood for fighting. I feel exhausted from all the fighting I’ve done growing up, trying to save the world on my own terms.  And then I hear that Maya Angelou has passed away and I come across her words that set me free.

And I realize that it is in the flow that I can help bring about freedom. Not in the fight.

Never in the fight.

 I fight in fear, never in love.

But in the flow.

Oh in the flow.

I flow in love. But never, ever in fear.

And so I give you Maya Angelou’s words that flow like honey in my feminine soul. Let’s be the phenomenal women we already are.

Phenomenal Women by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.

I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman”