Suffrage100MA is honored to share this poem, which was performed by Rose-Darla at the 2019 Women’s Equality Day event.
The Importance Of Her Heartbeat
By Rose-Darla Pascal
What if we could remember what it felt like to be in our mother’s womb?
To feel the vibrations of her heartbeat right above our head…
To hear the synchrony of our beating hearts
To dance to the melody of her voice
Consoling the child she hadn’t met yet
Us…
A woman taught us protection before any man.
But now she is left to die on the ground with a bleeding heart, crying out is this all part of God’s plan?
So, what if we could remember what it felt like to be in our mother’s womb?
From the day I was born, I felt the pressure to “act like a girl”
But what does a girl act like?
What does she do?
What does she have?
Is she free? Or is she just another caged bird longing for air and sky?
Is she beautiful? Or she just another object and you ask me why…
I still wonder what a woman sounds like.
We are expected to use the same voice we are told to swallow.
We are expected to give birth to sons but abort ideas that could change this world
And when we dare to lead we are told to follow…
It drives me insane
When they shout “stay in your lane”
No words. Just a glance.
Before I speak, I already have two strikes against me
Because “just another Black female” is what you see
No words. Just another glance.
Enough to prove to me that at this table…
I don’t stand a chance
But what if we could remember what it felt like to be in our mother’s womb?
It would remind us of where we came from…
Not a basket
A woman
It would remind us that a woman was not made to carry our imperfections.
She is not a basket
She is a woman
It would teach us that a woman is not a game.That my body is not a man’s hobby.
Once again
I am not a basket
I am a young woman.
So go ahead…
Tell me that I run like a girl
And I will tell you that there is no better way to do it
Just ask Harriet Tubman
I guess she was too busy finessing the system and freeing the black slaves
That no one had the time to stop her and tell her that she ran a certain way.
Tell me I sound too girlie
Tell me that I don’t have the right to speak
And I will remind you of how Sojourner spoke the Truth
How she proved that a baby wasn’t the only thing that a woman could produce
Tell me that I have nothing to offer
And I’ll tell you about Maria Baldwin and how a great intellectual cannot exist without a great educator.
Tell me that I have nothing to stand for
And I’ll remind of you Ms. Josephine Ruffin who spoke through her writing
And for all the women who look like me, she opened the door.
So ask me what it means to “act like a girl”
It’s realizing that you are a queen and understanding that you are not the only woman in the world.Ask me what a woman does?
She speaks up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
She understands that in many ways we are a broken nation
But she knows how to heal and protect because her heart was placed in the same position.
Am I free?
Yes. But you see
I wouldn’t be able to speak up without the women who looked like me
Marching the streets
Writing newspapers
Giving what they knew they would never receive
Dripping with sweat and chocolate
Defending their daughters who hadn’t been born yet.
Running like women
Marching like women
Writing like women
All the while showing what it really meant to be a woman.
They changed the game. They fixed the definition.
Yes. We are free.
Ask me if you are beautiful?
Darling, you are the definition.
Finally, ask me what a woman sounds like?
And I will tell you to quit hiding behind your silence.
You’ve swallowed your voice for so long that you actually forgot what it sounds like.
What it feels like
To be a part of something greater than you.
I will tell you to fight.
And to stand for what’s right.
Then you will know what a woman really sounds like.
And when you think you are lacking
And you start to question what you have
I will tell you to look down at the palm of your hands
To observe the blue print of power, beauty and intelligence
All in your DNA
Engraved in your unique fingerprints.
What if we could remember what it felt like to be in our mother’s womb?
To feel the vibrations of her heartbeat right above our head…
To hear the synchrony of our beating hearts
To dance to the melody of her voice
Consoling the child she hadn’t met yet.
What will we say when we are told to be silent?
What will we say when they tell us we run like girls?
When we are pointed to the lane we are expected to stay in…
What will we say when we are told that we are trying to be men?
I dare you to respond and say
“I am not here to prove to you that I can do what a man can do. I guess you’re finally seeing what a woman could.”
March 2021