Woman

Woman I am born
What does "woman" mean?
Must my dreams face scorn
Held back and unseen

If I long for fire
Must it stay unreal?
Can I not desire?
Am I not to feel?

If I ache to taste
Am I not to try?
If my heart says sail
Why should I deny?
I have my dreams
I have made plans
I see horizons wide as a man's
Must I be nothing till I'm some man's wife?

Look at this face
Does it deceive?
Do I look made to milk and to weave?
I will be damned to Hell if that is my life!

(spoken) Blasphemy--I know, forgive me! But I won't take it back! I won't!

(spoken) I understand you! Somehow I never pictured you knitting.

I'm almost your age,
I'm your match in size,
I'm as skilled with swords
And equal in most eyes

But when you have a dream
And you're caught in its grip
You can climb aboard a ship
You can -
You can for you're a man!

You can reach toward that place
Where the earth meets the sky
Fight a battle be brave, be true
If you can do it, why not I?

I'm meant to fly
Sail unrestrained
Why is man free and woman chained?
Is that my epitaph before I die?

I should be free
Free to be Grace
So I can feel the wind on my face!
And when life beckons, I should go
Face out the storm, not stay below
Am I to be just woman? No! Not I!