Her Campus is a platform built to uplift the works of women. It is a special thing to have a place to share our words and speak our minds.
The SBU chapter of HC sets aside time each week to give “article compliments” to fellow members. Now, when I read for pleasure, whether prose or poetry, I imagine myself talking to the author and bestowing compliments to them.
To honor my wild imagination, I am going to shine a light on some of my favorite female poets and their pieces that speak to me the most. Some of these pieces I relate to, and some have taught me some of what it means to be a woman who has had different experiences than me.
Warsan Shire
Shire was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and grew up in London. I first learned about her brilliance in 2016 when Beyoncé dropped “Lemonade (film).” After hearing the poem Beyoncé reads in the film while floating underwater, which I learned was called “Denial,” written by Shire, I began to admire her.
Years later, in my senior year of high school, my teacher had us read “For Women Who Are Difficult to Love.” I still think about this poem at least once a day. In all her poems, Warsan Shire speaks to parts of you that you think no one would understand or that you try to forget. Shire and I have led wildly different lives. Shire: a black woman, an immigrant, and wildly talented. Me: an average, 19-year-old, white girl who has lived in the same state her entire life. Yet, through her writing, she has made me feel so understood that perhaps in some ways, we do have some things in common.
Audre Lorde
Lorde (1934-1992) was a true feminist and civil rights activist who fought against homophobia, sexism, and racism in life and through her poetry. As a black, lesbian woman, she understood intersectionality better than many of us could even begin to. Lorde alludes to the complexities of her identity in her poem “Who Said It Was Simple.”
She wrote in a way that forces you to question why things are the way they are and ask yourself what your part is in all of it.
Mary Oliver
Oliver (1935-2019) was a white woman from Ohio who learned at a young age that she could find refuge in nature. She wrote about the wilderness, animals, and the value of life. Oliver could explain so much about the world through a drawn-out description of a flowing river or the presence of wild geese.
The first poem I ever thought enough about to memorize was “A Summer Day.” Oliver saw life and nature as they are: dangerous, gentle, vicious, and pure.
Maya Angelou
Angelou (1928-2014) needs no introduction, but I will give her one anyway. She is the author of the famous autobiographical work, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” that hopefully most of us read in high school. Angelou is an author, poet, activist, and the first female black director.
Out of all her works and achievements, I have been most drawn to “Phenomenal Woman” and “On Working White Liberals.” Her words are clear, and she does not make you wonder what exactly it is that she means. She cements her point into your thoughts so that it sticks with you long after you are finished reading.
Source: Poetry Foundation