<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">Holding Up The Sky </span><br class=""><div style="text-decoration: underline; margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">We women who walk the earth</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">petaled with phlox and rhododendrons,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">delight in flushing out its beauty</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">We women are fields of purple daisies</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">gathered in crystal vases,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">singing the virtues of sunshine</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">Summer is all a ruckus;</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">squirrel’s pitching walnuts, a clarinet and robin duet,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">a whistling bamboo and howling dogs too</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">We women have extraterrestrial ears</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">tuned to stellar pulses,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">resonating in our veins</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">We women have meandering muses</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">drawn to barnyard scents, </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">and orchards - laden with poetry</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">Where hens cackle all day,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">proud of their creations</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">made fresh from scratch</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">We women travel light,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">when our eggs are all gone</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">love keeps us moving </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">On we climb</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">guided by sisterly sherpas, </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">who have been to where we’re going</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><br class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">Above the Redwood spires </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">diamonds - set in blue,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">crown our heads each night</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">We women are living circles,</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">some fixed - some wandering</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">tethered - only by our imagination</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; min-height: 18px;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">We women hold each other up</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">and let the sky </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class="">rest on our shoulders</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- </span>Emily Marie Bording</div></body></html>