Progeny of Greatness

Tomorrow (March 8th) is International Women’s Day. Some may bemoan this day and ask ‘When is International Men’s Day?’

Why do we need to have special days that only celebrate women? Are men not important? The answer to the last question is of course yes, men are important. They are equally as important as women however, since the beginning of humanity, they have been regarded as the more important sex. Even today, in so many cultures, men enjoy more opportunity and choice than their female counterparts. In many places women remain without a voice and are subjugated and subordinate to men.

In my part of the world, women’s rights have progressed. We are generally thought of as equal and yet the gender pay gap exists. So there is work still to be done.

I have written this poem to celebrate women and remind all of us that we should seize every opportunity given to us, keep fighting to prove our worth and work to initiate change in countries in which women have an inferior standing to that of men.

Progeny of Greatness

We are the fight in Emmeline Pankhurst

The quest for justice of Rosa Parks

The caring touch of Florence Nightingale

Frida Kahlo’s artistic spark

We are Marie Curie’s genius,

Her devotion to a cause

Eleanor Roosevelt’s pursuit of suffrage

and fairness in the law

We are the desire of Benazir Bhutto

To grant all the right to vote

Defiant notions stirred by Germaine Greer

Aretha Franklin’s highest note

We are the warrior Queen Boudicca

Unwilling to acquiesce

We are the protector Jane Goodall

Conserving life in the wilderness

We are the pioneer Ada Lovelace

Who sussed out what computers could do

The intelligence of Katherine Johnson

Helping to put man on the moon

We are the endeavour of Miss Earhart

On her dangerously epic flight

We are the beauty of Nefertiti

And Queen Artemisia’s might

We are the daughters of amazing women

Who all blazed the trail before

In a relentless battle for equality

Nothing less and nothing more

We are the heart of Mother Teresa

The raw temerity of Joan of Arc

We are the abundant female spirit

We’re all here to make our mark