Woman walking

Poem

If you see a woman walking by herself

Let. her. be.

She is not alone,

she adds that extra “L”

That turns “alone” into “all one”

She is with herself

And she needs this time

Without the sound of your chatter

If you see a woman walking by herself

Let her be.

She is working in her head

Making a list of things that need to be done

Planning someone’s birthday

Picking up the shattered pieces

Imperfect people left in their wake

Imagining a life of freedom,

A broad

She is writing poetry in her soul

Singing to herself

Thinking of just the right words

to be honest yet kind

to that disrespectful frecking ars

she is forced to confront.

If you see a woman walking by herself

Let. her. be.

She is Meditating in the silence

Focusing on her breath

Praying for world peace

Healing the planet with her presence

And most likely

Passing gas.

She’s not walking for your attention

She’s busy being with herself

Whole, united, integrated

Walking in her integrity

If she wants your company

She will let you know.

Her head is crowded with ideas that need sorting

Her heart is full of joyful plans shes creating

Her shoulders are sore from carrying the weight of all that others leave behind

She is walking to relieve the pain in her back

Made my too many people walking across her body

So when you see

A woman walking by herself

Let. her. be.

Sage Justice © February 7, 2025 www.SageWords.org This concept/theory/poem is original to Sage Justice. If you use it, please give credit and link to original work. Thank you.

There’s an unspoken rule that if you see a woman wearing earbuds that means she’s busy and doesn’t want to talk. Maybe she’s on the phone, or listening to music, a podcast, or a book. The point is, she is enjoying her time on her own and doesn’t want to be bothered or engage with the world more than is necessary, in that moment. If you see her in passing and are afraid of being rude if you don’t say, “hello,” a simple wave will suffice. If she’s able to be interrupted and is interested in engaging, she will let you know. It’s not rude to claim time for ourselves. It is rude when people want to claim our time for themselves. Every woman needs a room of her own¹and sometimes that “room” has no walls but is the space they take up in nature to carve time alone for themselves. Please respect that time. For too long, women have been taught to deprive themselves in order to be kind to others; it’s time we support women in being kind to themselves.

Here’s the video version of the poem:

https://youtube.com/shorts/dAOWHGneaDw?si=7X683wK4EU_oIzPC

Photo of Sage Justice, walking barefoot on the sand of the beach near her home in coastal California. She is wearing a loose fitted, simple, pink cotton dress and we see her only from the back, walking into the sunset, away from the audience and toward herself.

Sage Justice is an award-winning poet, author, critically acclaimed performing artist, and intensely sincere, bold humanitarian activist.

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1. Reference to Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” (1929)