This poem was originally published on May 9, 2016.
The most powerful possible Yes
to the women determined to restore the Divine to where it has been pummeled out of memory,
where denial is so calcified that our beauty is last to be seen in economics and science and law—
laws that are too small for what our bodies know to be true.
The most powerful possible Yes to women
…to the dark, the spacious, the sweet, the jaded, the women who live as certain as light rays,
who renovate broken boardrooms and policies with justified anger and overwhelming Love—
Love of inclusion, of ecology, of bone solid Truth—Love of Love.
For those who do not have a Yes, I will share mine.
Because I can be radiant with my power—from the erotic to the cash.
I can fight my pain in public, choose my lovers, work my genius into shelter and endless comforts.
I am free to heal and so I must braid myself to
those whose bodies are stolen, where mine has always been free;
whose ideals cannot even be whispered, where mine have been invited…
The most powerful possible Yes to these women.
For the women who use privilege like a drug, for the ones so wounded that they wound,
for the ones who squander their influence because it’s too much work to come down and meet the pain of the world…
we need to gift the most powerful possible Yes to these women.
ALL WOMEN.
The elders, the curanderas, the suffragettes, the midwives of children and art and culture,
the ones we call slut and Saint and CEO—
Sisters
all with a voice to say:
We will fund it ourselves.
It’s better when it’s beautiful.
No means no.
I see you, and I love what I see.
Come, rest.
And then… Let’s dance.
We’re in this together,
all with a voice to say:
Feelings are facts.
Trust is a milestone
and compassion is a strategy.
And that is the most powerful possible Yes a woman can give.
Love,
Danielle
Danielle LaPorte is an invited member of Oprah’s SuperSoul 100, a group who, in Oprah Winfrey’s words, “is uniquely connecting the world together with a spiritual energy that matters.” She is author of White Hot Truth: Clarity for keeping it real on your spiritual path—from one seeker to another. The Fire Starter Sessions, and The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul—the book that has been translated into 8 languages, evolved into a yearly day planner system, a top 10 iTunes app, and an international workshop program with licensed facilitators in 15 countries. Named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes, millions of visitors go to DanielleLaPorte.com every month for her daily #Truthbombs and what’s been called “the best place online for kickass spirituality.” A speaker, a poet, a painter, and a former business strategist and Washington-DC think tank exec, Entrepreneur Magazine calls Danielle, “equal parts poet and entrepreneurial badass…edgy, contrarian…loving and inspired.” Her charities of choice are Eve Ensler’s VDay: a global movement to end violence against women and girls, and charity: water, setting out to bring safe drinking water to everyone in the world. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her favourite philosopher, her son. You can find her @daniellelaporte and just about everywhere on social media.
