From Eve's Rib

A collection of twenty-seven poems, presented in facing-page Spanish and English, from the Nicaraguan author and activist, Gioconda Belli. I first encountered Belli's work through her novel, The Inhabited Woman, and I immediately sought out her other books. From Eve's Rib was the only other title then available in English.

These poems, infused with a strong feminist ethos, speak of motherhood and menstruation, love and country, and of course, revolution. Like a bridge between the intimate and the public, they bear out the maxim that "the personal is political." Every beautiful, well-crafted poem in this collection is worth the reader's attention, but my favorite is probably And God Made Me Woman, which opens the book like an show more invocation:

And God made me woman.
With the long hair,
with the eyes,
the nose and mouth of a woman.
With curves
and folds
and soft hollows.
God carved into me a workshop for human beings.
Delicately wove my nerves
and carefully counted
and balanced my hormones;
composed my blood
and poured it into me
so that it would flow
through my entire body.
And so ideas were born,
dreams,
instincts,
everything that was gently created
with hammering whispers
and the drilling motions of love,
the thousand and one things that make me woman every day,
that make me arise proud,
every morning,
and bless my sex. show less