She Stood Up (A Tribute for International Women’s Day)

This Portrait of Helen Keller was taken in 1904

A world of darkness,

Not really

She brought her own

Light

Exploring

The world through eager

Fingertips.

A world of silence

Perhaps

But she heard

Far more

Than many of her

Time

And she was far

From afraid to

Speak up

She stood up

For the rights

Of the disabled

At a time

When many believed

Women should be silenced

And those who were

Deaf and blind

Had little purpose.

She was not

One easily quieted

When she perceived

A wrong

A strong woman

With a stronger will

Determined to make

A change

And she did.

© Michelle R Kidwell

March.08.2021