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The Common Woman Poems: Vera, from my childhood
Judy Grahn
Solemnly swearing, to swear as an oath to you
who have somehow gotten to be a pale old woman;
swearing, as if an oath could be wrapped around
your shoulders
like a new coat:
For your 28 dollars a week and the bastard boss
you never let yourself hate;
and the work, all the work you did at home
where you never got paid;
For your mouth that got thinner and thinner
until it disappeared as if you had choked on it,
watching the hard liquor break your fine husband down
into a dead joke.
For the strange mole, like a third eye
right in the middle of your forehead;
for your religion which insisted that people
are beautiful golden birds and must be preserved;
for your persistent nerve
and plain white talk —
the common woman is as common
as good bread
as common as when you couldnt go on
but did.
For all the world we didnt know we held in common
all along
the common woman is as common as the best of bread
and will rise
and will become strong — I swear it to you
I swear it to you on my own head
I swear it to you on my common
woman’s
head
Judy Grahn is internationally known as a poet and cultural theorist. Her accessible, short poems are collected in love belongs to those who do the feeling, from Red Hen Press in Los Angeles. The book won a Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry in 2008. Judy Grahn’s memoir, A Simple Revolution, has just been published by Aunt Lute Press. Grahn codirects the Women’s Spirituality master’s program at Sofia University in Palo Alto. The poem is reprinted by permission.
Here's something you might be interested in.
The Common Woman Poems: Vera, from my childhood
The Common Woman Poems: Vera, from my childhood
Judy Grahn
Solemnly swearing, to swear as an oath to you
who have somehow gotten to be a pale old woman;
swearing, as if an oath could be wrapped around
your shoulders
like a new coat:
For your 28 dollars a week and the bastard boss
you never let yourself hate;
and the work, all the work you did at home
where you never got paid;
For your mouth that got thinner and thinner
until it disappeared as if you had choked on it,
watching the hard liquor break your fine husband down
into a dead joke.
For the strange mole, like a third eye
right in the middle of your forehead;
for your religion which insisted that people
are beautiful golden birds and must be preserved;
for your persistent nerve
and plain white talk —
the common woman is as common
as good bread
as common as when you couldnt go on
but did.
For all the world we didnt know we held in common
all along
the common woman is as common as the best of bread
and will rise
and will become strong — I swear it to you
I swear it to you on my own head
I swear it to you on my common
woman’s
head
Judy Grahn is internationally known as a poet and cultural theorist. Her accessible, short poems are collected in love belongs to those who do the feeling, from Red Hen Press in Los Angeles. The book won a Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry in 2008. Judy Grahn’s memoir, A Simple Revolution, has just been published by Aunt Lute Press. Grahn codirects the Women’s Spirituality master’s program at Sofia University in Palo Alto. The poem is reprinted by permission.