Welcome to the second week of National Poetry Month!
This week, we are all sharing a poem by our Poet Laureate, Ada Limón. I have a plethora of Ada Favorites in my poetry collection, but I think the thing I like best about Ada’s poetry is the way she lifts women… it always inspires me.
And my selection this week is:
How to Triumph Like a Girl
by Ada Limón
I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour
is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.
I like their lady horse swagger,
after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!
But mainly, let’s be honest, I like
that they’re ladies. As if this big
dangerous animal is also a part of me,
that somewhere inside the delicate
skin of my body, there pumps
an 8-pound female horse heart,
giant with power, heavy with blood.
Don’t you want to believe it?
Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see
the huge beating genius machine
that thinks, no, it knows,
it’s going to come in first.
Ada Limon, “How to Triumph Like a Girl” from Bright Dead Things. Copyright © 2015 by Ada Limon.
To learn more about Ada, you will find some great info here as well as her site here.
Please stop by and see what poems Kym, Bonny, and Sarah are sharing today!
Oh, I haven’t read this one yet. Thank you for sharing it! I’ve been rereading Forsythia in her most recent collection this whole week. And as I check the buds on my own forsythia every day, I find myself chanting forsythia, forsythia, forsythia.
Ears up, girls, ears up! I love that 🙂
What a perfect way to extol the strength of women!
Oh, I do want to believe it, Ada! I am going to approach my stationery bike ride a bit differently after reading this and know I’m going to come in first. Thanks for sharing such an inspirational poem, Kat!
Such a great poem, Kat. XO
This is a lovely poem. If only women poets ruled the world.