I recently finished reading Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Pérez and I have not stopped thinking about it since.
So why am I thinking about this today you might wonder. Well, with all this thinking about being “an invisible woman,” a poem by my beloved Ada Limón has been on my mind as well… I like how she reimagines what might be a familiar story for many of us. And yet, even in this reframing, (which I think is brilliant, by the way) there is a degree of invisibility that leaves an unsettled feeling I in me as I read it… but a good unsettled feeling… one that makes me think about reimagining all the things!
A Name
by Ada Limón
When Eve walked among
the animals and named them—
nightingale, red-shouldered hawk,
fiddler crab, fallow deer—
I wonder if she ever wanted
them to speak back, looked into
their wide wonderful eyes and
whispered, Name me, name me.
A Name by Ada Limón © The Carrying: Poems. Published 2018 by Milkweed Editions.
Bonny is gathering us all together today… stop by and see what poems are shared!
Have a great remainder of the week and I will see you all back here on Monday with an update on my word!
What a lovely poem, Kat! XO
You’ve found a wonderful confluence of several things of great interest to me – Invisible Women and Ada Limón’s lovely poetry. Have fun reimagining!
Oh, she is so good! And so right — there is power in names and in being seen.
maybe invisible women are visible when we open our eyes and see them….great poem and now I’m pondering invisibility.
I love it when poets and writers reimagine old stories. Limon does it well here.