Poet Republik-Alice Notley
Alice Notley may resist categorization, but she has done more for women’s poetics than possibly any other poet alive. If you don’t believe me, please read, The Descent of Alette. Who is a woman who has inspired you?
THAT I MAY LIVE
I step across and can no longer make myself understood.
Listen to Torna a Sorrento concentratedly
I don’t understand Italian I understand the song.
I’m here. You can’t return because
a former life is not available; they read dis-
sertations there now. The clean glass of sparkling
water is for my mother.
Who will I write
for, alive? Into the air of you. This sadness,
rather than gotten rid of, is become another;
a quality both thicker and lighter
You still don’t understand that you too must
change; you value phantoms: I’m talking
to you — but my phantoms are real. You all
value material comfort over knowing a thing–
who is speaking?
I have none; the counterclock stops; though
it’s late where you are.
Alice Notley is the author of over twenty-five books of poetry, including 165 Meeting House Lane (1971), Phoebe Light (1973), Incidentals in the Day World (1973), For Frank O’Hara’s Birthday (1976), Alice Ordered Me to Be Made: Poems 1975 (1976), Dr. Williams’ Heiresses (1980), How Spring Comes (1981), which received the San Francisco Poetry Award, Waltzing Matilda (1981), Margaret & Dusty (1985), From a Work in Progress (1988), Homer’s Art (1990), To Say You (1993), Selected Poems of Alice Notley (1993), The Descent of Alette (1996), among many others. Mysteries of Small Houses (1998) won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and her collection Disobedience (2001) was awarded the Griffin International Poetry Prize. Notley’s recent work includes From the Beginning (2004), Alma, or the Dead Women (2006), Grave of Light: New and Selected Poems 1970-2005), which received the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, In the Pines (2007), Culture of One (2011), and Songs and Stories of the Ghouls (2011).
Poem used with permission.
originally published in Ping-Pong 2014
Winnie Mandela is a woman who I really admire. She had so much courage and strength to fight for the freedoms and rights of blacks in South Africa, alongside her husband Nelson Mandela. I couldn’t imagine how trying the journey became when Nelson was incarcerated and also when she too was incarcerated. Despite the great hardships she faced along the way, she didn’t give up, and she fought until freedom was won.
A woman I really admire and applaud is Hillary Rodham Clinton. She has succeeded in a world that no woman has. She’s more powerful than her husband who is a former president. She has been the first woman to do a lot of things. Don’t be surprised if she becomes the first female president.
Given that I am such a science-nut… One of my greatest women heroes is Marie Curie, the two-time Nobel Prize winner. One in physics and in chemistry, she paved the way for women to be successful and taken seriously in the sciences.
“I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.”-Marie Curie
This poem reminded me of a book I read some years ago- “The Lace Reader” by Brunonia Barry. The specific line which brought to mind childhood trauma, like that in the book, was- “a former life is not available”. Hauntingly awesome quote.
Emily Dickinson, I have been reading her poetry since I was very young and she is one of the authors that inspired me to start writing. My favorite poem would have to be this one :Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
She was a strong woman that faced up to what most of us fear the most- death- at least in her writing.
My Mother,
The woman that no one else can compare to
The loving, strong, beautiful woman that brought me to this earth
The one who always puts everyone else before her
She taught me right from wrong
And forever I will be grateful for her.
Oprah Winfrey. A talk-show host, actress, and producer. First African-American woman to have the status of a billionaire, with the net worth of 3 billion dollars. She also has the number one T.V. talk show in history. This woman is an inspiration to all. Work hard and follow your passion and you will have success, is the message I receive from her accomplishments.
A book I recommend to read is a hilarious novel called Is Everyone Hanging Out With Me ? (And other concerns) by a women named, Mindy Kaling. She not only super funny in the book but in fact has her own show called: The Mindy Project which is also filled with hilarious material. Mindy also happens to be a honorable feminist.
“You still don’t understand that you too must
change; you value phantoms: I’m talking
to you — but my phantoms are real. ” this is a great poem , this is my favorite part it has a lot of meaning
One of my all time favorite female hero’s is Rosa Parks. I look up to her because times were horrible back in the day and she had the courage to stand up for herself and others of the same race. Because of her, I remember that I should stand up for what I believe in and not let my race or gender stand in the way.
Joan Didion is one of my favorite writers of all time. The Year of Magical Thinking is one of my favorite reads.
“Read, learn, work it up, go to the literature.
Information is control.”
I think that Women’s History Month is important. We learn about women that we normally would have never known about. Joan of Arc is a perfect example of that. One of the quotes that I like from her is “One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.”
My woman
The person who took me in
who cared for me
who taught me so much
my person
who made me laugh
who made me feel alive
She can be tuff on me but she changed my whole life around.
The person who always said “no” to things she knew that were bad,
the things people are getting in trouble for
I thank god for such an amazing person in my life.
My aunt (my mother)
A woman that I admire deeply is Frida Kahlo. Her artwork was really ahead of its time. Frida Kahlo did not abide by the social norms of her day. For some her art was a little risqué, but I think it very brave of her to use her amazing art as a form of self-expression.
i admire Sacagawea. Sacagawea was a Lemhi Shoshone Native American woman. She traveled with Lewis and Clark helping them as both a guide and an interpreter.
She wiped my tears and brushed my hair
She watched me grow year by year
Her words so consoling, her support unconditional
Always blocking my fear
My mother, oh so beautiful,
Providing endless love
Oh how I love this woman, an eternal love.
Grace Hopper is a person I always remember. She worked on the 1st computer called Mark 1 and was the oldest admiral of her time. She also headed to a team and created the first compiler for coding, which led to the creation of COBOL (a programming language used today)
Emma Watson. Besides being a very successful great actor she has become quite the activist. She actually has been doing a lot of womens rights work.
Through your strength and encouragement. I know it was hard to do it alone. You never complained or made us feel less loved. You are the bravest and strongest woman I know. I was honored to have you in my life, and I am proud to say you were my mother.
I thought Harriet Tubman had left her mark in American history by being a very brave women who risked her life numerous times to try and get slaves across the northern border to get them to freedom. Helping to create the underground railroad has earned her place in American history forever.