Wow, on this INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY....
I am taking pause 
To think about what I've taken too much for granted
Just because I have enjoyed this freedom 
For almost all of my life...

This freedom to be what I am
What I want to say and when
What I want to wear and to where
Who I choose to be and to be with whom
My own Mother was not quite as fortunate for some part of her childhood
And she wanted to make sure that my own path would be different from hers

BUT there is still so many women in this world in this era
Who have not tasted this freedom 
By a mere virtue of thier own gender..

Grateful for the progress so far
But hopeful for another leap 
Towards total freedom
For our fellow sisters in this world
Where then the only bondage we have
Would be the only ones we inflict upon our own selves
In our own minds.... :)

As my footsteps cunched on the icy coat
And the water's glassy like a mercury film
I wondered...
How was this Earth's beauty borned?

Between the deep woods and ice-crusted lake
In the solitudes of the wintry air
Where silence softly speaks....
And Heaven and angels and the cardinal have stopped to listen
My nose and ears are red from the cold
But my heart is warm on fire.....