Home » blogs » emily

women's history: billie holiday

Submitted by Emily on March 22, 2007 - 5:53am.
|

given life
by a child
only 13
parents seperated
when she turned 3
raised in the projects
raped at 11
sent to catholic school
to at least ensure heaven
2 years later
what happened had changed her
her family traveled
in hopes that could save her
and at age 13
she was raped by her neighbor

she turned to prositution
& was jailed for her "crime"
she sang
"body and soul"
for a home,
for a dime
unrecognized
overlooked
& segregated
she sang for her soul
she found music in hatred

she fell to numbness
using drugs for her pain
& for 8 months
she was jailed, once again

she died at age 44
with $0.70 in the bank
swindled out of her money
discriminated out of her fame
she stands as inspiration
since '59 to this day
in the dreams of the struggling woman
they envision
"lady day"

» Emily's blog | login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Emily! This is beautiful. I

Submitted by Kampire on March 22, 2007 - 2:20pm.

Emily! This is beautiful. I adore Billie Holiday and your poem is a great tribute to a wonderful lady.

» login or register to post comments

LOVE this.

Submitted by Heather on March 22, 2007 - 6:05pm.

Love, love, love how you handled this assignment, Emily. So you AND so Billie.

What a gem.

» login or register to post comments

Great poem!

Submitted by Dylan on March 22, 2007 - 10:05pm.

I liked the way you chose to present this. It reminds me that it is never the structure or form of something that makes it more valuable, but the content and message it presents.

» login or register to post comments

unrecognized overlooked &

Submitted by Charlotta on March 23, 2007 - 3:18pm.

unrecognized
overlooked
& segregated
she sang for her soul
she found music in hatred

I really really like this part of the stanza. It reminds me of reading stories written by those who are oppressed--the beauty they manage to find and the power of their words are so incredible.

» login or register to post comments

thank you all so much for

Submitted by Emily on March 24, 2007 - 10:11pm.

thank you all so much for your encouragement and nice words :)

I'm trying to stay involved! life is so hectic! bear with me!

» login or register to post comments

Em, This is amazing. I love

Submitted by Elizabeth on March 24, 2007 - 11:47pm.

Em, This is amazing. I love the way you wrote it all. Billie Holiday is such an amazing woman. Im most def buying that one print I showed you of her.

» login or register to post comments