{"id":5616,"date":"2013-04-03T15:36:41","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T19:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/?p=5616"},"modified":"2013-04-03T15:36:41","modified_gmt":"2013-04-03T19:36:41","slug":"day-3-of-national-poetry-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2013\/04\/day-3-of-national-poetry-month.html","title":{"rendered":"day 3 of National Poetry Month ~"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>One of my favourite poets died a few years ago, in 2007. Her name was Maude Meehan. She was an amazing woman, as well as a heckuva poet. She was a worker for social justice from way back: worker’s rights, women’s rights, gay rights… The rights of people everywhere, in all walks of life. Her work has had a huge impact on my own. I hope more people go find her poetry — it’s a pleasure to read.<\/div>\n
Here’s my favourite:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Is There Life After Feminism (or how to wear boots and still be politically incorrect)<\/div>\n

I like to wear boots.<\/p>\n

I like the noise they make.
\nI walk real uppity in boots.
\nI walk strong.
\nIf pressed
\nI can land a punch, a kick,
\ndemolish a rapist,
\nand if I want to
\nI can go to bed in boots.<\/p>\n

I cook without Tofu or eggplant
\nand I hate alfalfa sprouts. Call it heresy.
\nI hug my husband, my sons,
\nand send my daughter radical feminist literature.
\nI hug her too.\u00a0 I hug my gay friends,
\nand don\u2019t apologize for being straight.
\nI hug my friends of color
\nand won\u2019t apologize for being white.
\nHow can we stand up together
\nif we\u2019re putting each other down?<\/p>\n

I am a senior citizen.
\nThere are advantages.
\nI get ten percent off on pancakes at Golden Wist
\nand a dollar off at the Nickelodeon.
\nSometimes I wear lipstick, mascara
\nand don\u2019t ask anyone\u2019s pardon.
\nI wear a dress when I visit my mother.
\nShe\u2019s ninety-six, I\u2019m sixty-five.
\nSpare me your arguments.\u00a0 Where is it written
\nthat any one of us has all the right answers
\nfor anyone else?<\/p>\n

I am a good citizen.
\nThere are\u00a0dis<\/em>advantages.
\nI write to presidents and politicians
\nand they do what they want anyway.
\nI go to marches, to meetings, to jail,
\nand I have a file in Washington in my very own name
\nwhich I refuse to send for.
\nI know who I am.
\nEven when I do dishes, mind kids or wear high heels
\nI know who I am.
\nBut what I like about wearing boots is,
\nthere\u2019s no confusion.
\nEveryone\u00a0<\/em>knows who I am.\u00a0 Watch out!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my favourite poets died a few years ago, in 2007. Her name was Maude Meehan. She was an amazing woman, as well as a heckuva poet. She was a worker for social justice from way back: worker’s rights, women’s rights, gay rights… The rights of people everywhere, in all walks of life. Her…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[11,1181,1187,262,480,318,1190],"class_list":["post-5616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-maude-meehan","tag-national-poetry-month","tag-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\nday 3 of National Poetry Month ~ - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of my favourite poets died a few years ago, in 2007. Her name was Maude Meehan. 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Years spent living on the margins - in places with exotic names and food shortages - have left her with a visceral response to folks \u2018without,\u2019 as well as a desire to live her Buddhism in an engaged fashion. She\u2019s a writer and a teacher, the former director of a federal non-profit for teachers who write. She believes that if we talk to each other, we can learn to love each other (but she's still learning how). And she believes in tea. 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