She Tried

A girl on a ship with a tablet of clay

Struggling as the ship rocked and swayed

A stick for a pencil

Grit in her hand

They said a girl couldn't

And she said, "I can."

The story she wrote of her life on the ship

If she hadn't tried we would be without it

So here's a toast to trying,

To write and create

Moving beyond an easy fate

A girl in an era of quill pens and war

Writing her poems as many before

She had a role of a mother, a sister, a bride

And though they were hard she pressed forward and tried

And when the sun sank and all were at rest

She brought her papers and there did her best

Songs for her children, her husband, her friends

Scribbled in cursive as daylight would end

A worker by day and a writer by night

The world was made better because she just tried

A girl who was told only boys could write

Her place was not one where with words she could fight

Pushed down and pushed back

"You're only a girl."

She clenched her teeth and pushed back against the world

With her story books in her lap

Papers on her desk

She flurried away in her self-made nest

Ignoring the voices haunting outside

She wanted to write

And so she just tried

A girl in today with school, work, and life

One who digs in and just wants to write

Who sees wonder and awe

Sorrow and pain

And wants to capture it all to read again and again

Her own ships of chaos, of struggles and problems

"Will I find time to write?"

She works hard and solves them

And when her weariness speaks and she doesn't want to reach high

"No," she whispers, and touches the sky

She pulls out her pencil, her notebook, her pen

She crafts tales of legends

Digs deeper within

Smashes away at her laptop though she wonders if she'll fail

"Will my story be read? Will it sink or sail?"

Doubts and battles of heart, spirit, and mind

This girl almost sometimes gives up and gives in

But no

She will try

And she knows she will win

When writing, it's hard

I get that, because I'm there

I just want to collapse and think no one else cares

Who needs my story?

Who needs it for light?

This snippet of writing might not survive

But like our ancestors, women of grit

Who ignored their own doubts

And refused to give in

God gave us this urge to compose and create

He urges to grow and not accept easy fates

So block on the whispers

Let them shrivel and die

Sisters and friends

Let us write

Let us try