What does it take 
to become 
a wild woman? 
What does it take 
to be free? 

Does it take outcasting yourself 
so everyone will leave you alone 
Walking your monkey in a pram
Dogs at your heels 

There she goes
Married only to her paints

How unusual

I, too, wanted a monkey as a child

Does it take living through the characters 
you create on the page 
Free spirits 
Despite their corsets
Red-headed and untamed 
Who live in blue castles, 
but didn’t always,
Who learned, who learned 
To unlearn 
That which was tame 
And found solace 
in the arms 
Of their own free will 

And was Lucy also wild? 
Did Emily feel as free 
as her brushstrokes? 
Were they allowed just to be? 
Did they care? 

I have always been drawn to the women
And the stories of women 
Who moved from the tame into 
Their most powerful 
Beautiful 
Authentic 
Free 
Selves 

The ones who learned to say no 
No matter what age 
The ones who refused to be told what to do
Or what to eat
Or how to live their own lives 

I have always been drawn 
To the Margarets of the world —
Margaret, whom you don’t know
But who gave me a red bracelet once
And although she had outlived her husband and son, still loved a good bus trip 
to the casino with her old lady friends
and the occasional boyfriend— 
She never left the house
without her lipstick on— 
I have always been drawn to the free ones 

The women 

And perhaps that comes from having been
Raised to be tame
Raised to fear 
Raised to not be heard 
Raised to rest in the shadows 
Where it’s safe 

But I could never stop thinking of Emily 
And her monkey
And thinking
Maybe my life isn’t meant for safe 

Maybe we confuse safe and fear 

And maybe wild is synonymous with free 

Maybe

Maybe 

I am meant for more 

Maybe I am meant for me

(Maria Giuliani, 2024)