Category: Strong Women

A Woman Should poem, Chingona, Chingonas, Faith, Maya Angelou, Pamela Satran, poetry, Strong Women, Wisdom

‘A Woman Should Have’ and Maya Angelou

Mona Alvarado Frazier



Sometimes you land on the best things when you least expect it. It was ‘clean out the email folders’ today and I found this “A Women Should” poem in my folder marked “Inspirational.” Seems I forgot that I had such a folder, since the last entry was in 2009. There had to be inspirational quotes and other stuff I’ve discovered since 2009. That’s not the point though. 


Before I posted this poem, allegedly by Maya Angelou, I did a search so I could ascertain what year it was written. Funny thing happened on the way to Maya Angelou. This poem wasn’t written by her, it was written as a magazine article by Pamela R. Satran, a writer of several novels, in 1997. The original name was “30 Things Every Woman Should Know or Have by the Time she’s Thirty.” Soon this became a hot email chain poem and somehow became attributed to Maya Angelou. I can kind of see (and hear) her wise and warm voice telling us all what a woman should have, so I can see how this was attributed to Ms. Angelou. 

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …

enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
a youth she’s content to leave behind….
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a past juicy enough that she’s looking forward to
retelling it in her old age….
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ….
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
one friend who always makes her laugh… and one who lets her cry…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored…
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a feeling of control over her destiny.
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
how to fall in love without losing herself.
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without; ruining the friendship…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
when to try harder… and WHEN TO WALK AWAY…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
that she can’t change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
that her childhood may not have been perfect…but its over…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
what she would and wouldn’t do for love or more…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
how to live alone… even if she doesn’t like it…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
whom she can trust,
whom she can’t,
and why she shouldn’t take it personally…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
where to go…
be it to her best friend’s kitchen table…
or a charming inn in the woods…
when her soul needs soothing…
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…
what she can and can’t accomplish in a day…
a month…and a year…

I totally understand why this email went viral (can email be viral or just video’s?) and I love that the title was changed. I don’t think it was done with malice, but because it is applicable to women over thirty. Listen if I found this when I was thirty I may have paid more attention and had less angst.  It wasn’t until I was deep in my forties that I could say I completed the items listed in this poem, even the cordless drill. 







Authors, Folsom Lockdown, Melinda Palacio, oetry, poetry, Strong Women

Folsom Lockdown-Poems by Melinda Palacio

Mona Alvarado Frazier
               Poetry: The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings~Wordsworth

A few days ago I had the pleasure of hearing Melinda Palacios, poet and author, read several of her poems. She was a guest poet at the Carnegie Museum’s 2011 Arcade Poetry Series. I’m a recent ‘follower’ of her blogs on “La Bloga,” and admire her style of writing. So it was without hesitation that I jumped on the chance to listen to her give a reading in my hometown.

Melinda’s book of poetry, Folsom Lockdown, is the winner of the 2009 Sense of Place Chapbook Award. I love the title of the award “Sense of Place.” Now how did poems which deal with a father being in the second oldest prison in the state achieve a “Sense of Place” award? By being damn good poems is the quick answer. A more thoughtful one is given by Luis J. Rodriguez, “Somehow, we’re all behind bars. And Melinda Palacio’s poems are a welcome reprieve that dares to illustrate how poetry and art are the only real keys to our liberations.”

Once Melinda began reading I was mesmerized by the powerful sound of this petite woman. Her rich voice was full of passion, her hands moved to the imagery created by her words, and she spoke in the vivid voices of the characters in her poems. This was particularly entertaining with the poem “United Steaks.”

Some of the other poems like “Dancing with Zorro’s Ghost, Snake Charmer, Remember Persephone, and Names and Numbers” are wistful, questioning, and often harshly realistic, much like the prison system. All of the poems illustrate the reality of growing up with an often absent father, violence, loneliness, and questions. But the strength of family, acceptance, and maturity are also there, side by side. There is no bitterness in these poems. And that is what allows the depth of her voice to be heard, which is part of their uniqueness and their power.

Melinda’s new work is a novel, Ocotillo Dreams, published by Arizona Press. It will debut in July 2011 and is available for pre-sale on http://www.amazon.com.

Folsom Lockdown is published by Kalupi Press, ISBN: 978-0-9817653-1-0. You can find it on http://www.amazon.com or at her website, http://www.melindapalacio.com