Moon marked and touched by sun <br />my magic is unwritten <br />but when the sea turns back <br />it will leave my shape behind. <br />I seek no favor <br />untouched by blood <br />unrelenting as the curse of love <br />permanent as my errors <br />or my pride <br />I do not mix <br />love with pity <br />nor hate with scorn <br />and if you would know me <br />look into the entrails of Uranus <br />where the restless oceans pound. <br /> <br />I do not dwell <br />within my birth nor my divinities <br />who am ageless and half-grown <br />and still seeking <br />my sisters <br />witches in Dahomey <br />wear me inside their coiled cloths <br />as our mother did <br />mourning. <br /> <br />I have been woman <br />for a long time <br />beware my smile <br />I am treacherous with old magic <br />and the noon's new fury <br />with all your wide futures <br />promised <br />I am <br />woman <br />and not white.<br /><br />Audre Lorde<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-woman-speaks/
