Brown, Molly

English

Collin College: DigitalCommons@Collin

ForcesVolume 2019 Article 1023-27-2019Woman's WorkMolly BrownFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.collin.edu/forcesThis Poem is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Collin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Forces by an authorized editorof DigitalCommons@Collin. For more information, please contact mtomlin@collin.edu.Recommended CitationBrown, Molly (2019) "Woman's Work," Forces: Vol. 2019 , Article 102.Available at: https://digitalcommons.collin.edu/forces/vol2019/iss1/1026F O R C E S  2 0 1 9Eggs   Maryanne ZamoraWoman’s WorkMolly BrownNow I know what it meansto laugh and cry at the same time:Now I get it, mama, all your pain—How your heart was broken by men,and how a woman can break a man in kindI felt how you shattered like the heirloom crystalthrown from cabinets, slicing rubiesacross soft skin the color of white jade—Or were you the glass coffee tablethat was dragged to the lawnwith its legs in the air, helpless and naked?Here I am, the result of all these things—And none.After all my tears had gone and left me dry,I could finally hear my ancestors sing.They stood in the kitchen with bare feetkneading bread, dark hair and knowing eyescovered by heavy, homespun veils.They tutted over my prone formas they swept away SAQ and ashes:“GOD didn't put us here to be loved;They put us here to work hardknowing how hard women can work.GOD didn't put us here to be loved;They put us here to raise villagesand hold our sister's hand,sweeping back her plaited hairwhile she heaved in labor,drenched in cold sweat.And when we saw that child, we wept—Full of joy and terror,knowing the world she was born intoand would have to make her own;Laughing and crying at the same time.”

Woman\u27s Work

https://digitalcommons.collin.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3151&amp;context=forces

Woman\u27s Work

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