where the restless oceans pound

I was really going back and forth on whether I wanted to post sexy Audre Lorde or activist Audre Lorde or punch-you-in-the-face Audre Lorde, so I kind of went for sexy-activist-with-a-little-punching Audre Lorde. Which maybe is most Audre Lorde, now that I am thinking about it.

Moon marked and touched by sun
my magic is unwritten
but when the sea turns back
it will leave my shape behind.
I seek no favor
untouched by blood
unrelenting as the curse of love
permanent as my errors
or my pride
I do not mix
love with pity
nor hate with scorn
and if you would know me
look into the entrails of Uranus
where the restless oceans pound.

I do not dwell
within my birth nor my divinities
who am ageless and half-grown
and still seeking
my sisters
witches in Dahomey
wear me inside their coiled cloths
as our mother did
mourning.

I have been woman
for a long time
beware my smile
I am treacherous with old magic
and the noon's new fury
with all your wide futures
promised
I am
woman
and not white.

—Audre Lorde (1934-1992), "A Woman Speaks," from The Black Unicorn, 1978.