This year, the project weighs on me more than it has before. I am feeling things intensely. Perhaps it’s the effect of the long pandemic that keeps our lives from resembling normal. Perhaps it’s the weather…but today is a beautiful day in my neighborhood, so probably not. The word that comes quickest to my mind is one you don’t hear often any more…malaise. I tell you this in hopes that you will be sympathetic with the odd poem I give you tonight. I am in an odd mood, and when I am in an odd mood, sometimes I have no choice but to write an odd poem.

What is…woman?

 Woman.
Who am I?
Woman.
What am I?
Woman? What is…woman?
Welder…
Operator…
Musician…
Astronaut…
Nurse…
Woman.

 I remember a woman.
A woman…she raised me.
I remember a woman.
A woman…she taught me.
I remember a woman.
A woman…she was my employer.
I remember a woman.
A woman…I read her book.
I remember a woman.
A woman…I saw her in my mirror.

 Woman.
Who am I?
Woman.
What am I?
Woman? What is…woman?
Webmaster…
Optometrist…
Machinist…
Archaeologist…
Naturalist…
Woman.

 I remember…a woman.