Quaker Saint
"I have been a stranger in a strange land." Bible, Exodus 2:22
This poem was written for "B Type of Form Poetry Contest,"
Constance LaFrance, sponsor 5/29/2024
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Oh, wish I had the skill to draw or paint
my vision of her, the woman dubbed the ‘Quaker Saint.’
Borne ahead of her era, her life was a luminous banner
with emblazoned voice and resolve, never did she stammer.
High-hearted, far-sighted she pressed for freedom, justice’s call--
to liberate all people, especially women, from thrall.
Wearing her white frock, the Quaker Saint did march,
a stranger in a strange land she sought freedom, Lady Liberty’s torch.
Robed in pale blue and silver-gray,
no silly, frivolous fashions did she essay.
Fearlessly the Quaker Saint climbed the rugged ‘suffrage hill,’
and bravely faced adversaries and every ill.
With ground held hard, speaking everywhere,
the Quaker Saint ofttimes spoke in the open air.
From sleighs, oxcarts, and regal coaches
she was besieged with burning effigies, bugs, and roaches.
“Women must have a purse of their own,” Quaker Saint oft quoted.
Arrested once and fined for having illegally voted.
Undaunted, “Hats off!” she chanted, her audience impearled
“We women are coming to save the world.”
All of this the Quaker Saint endured for the emancipation
and the right to vote for the women of our great nation.
She and Elizabeth Stanton together battled and paved the way,
and the 19th Amendment, became law, and is here to stay.
Copyright ©
Sara Etgen-Baker
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