Heartbeats

There’s a heart in every woman

known to all by another name

something that can’t be fooled

a thing that never breaks.

It’s our secret, yet belongs to the world

without it, the cries never die

We feel it when pain swoops in

but it’s subtle, beckoning its wish.

When a call comes, we must answer

We gather, we care, as we must

A night when the hours are darkest

is measured, caressed, and set free.

The heart of a woman is strength

but it beats to a different rhythm

it’s kind, it’s patient, it’s slower

yet in this world, it must live.

Daughters of mine, keep your precious hearts beating

for they lie at the heart of our world.