To us who will not be celebrated today;
To us who may feel less than women;
To us who must create with words and pictures,
not blood and milk and cells;
To us who learn to smile at others’ joys,
then turn to wipe away tears;
May our tears be logged in the volumes of dreams deferred,
lining the library of the kingdom;
May we become fully women, standing erect in who we are
as we fiercely love
all we know
all we do not yet know
ourselves.