Letter to author

Dear Eavan Boland,

     Your poem “It’s a Woman’s World” was very interesting and to me it was agreeable, as I keep on reading it, to better understand the true meaning I came to a point that I could make a connection with your poem. Being able to connect with lines 22-23, describing star-gazers, fire-eaters” it reminded me of reaching my goals and being a brave woman who stands up for herself.

     In lines 22-23, my connection to those lines are being able to find my goals and achieve it as I look above the stars and also being able to deal with difficult not impossible obstacles, it is described in those lines “star-gazers, fire-eaters.” Could women never be as great as men? My experience in describing “star-gazers” was looking back at myself for being insecure and thinking how my future will be? I’m scared to fail in life because it is such a big deal towards my family life, it made me feel like there was no room for mistakes, but then I was able to realize to not bother yet about my future, since it is still way ahead of me and I should not rush things and just take my goals and think about slowly with making right choices. I see myself looking at the stars at night, staring at it, all my goals in life are in those stars, and being able to say in the future I achieved that one star which will give me great confidence which is important to me. 

It was also described that woman can never be “fire-eaters” in line 23. I believe the meaning to that is being a brave woman, being able to stand up for oneself. Everyone experiences a day in high school that they will get picked on and laughed at, I have been there had many experiences with bullies that discriminate because of ethnic background. Back then, I still remember I was like a turtle always hiding in my shell being scared of getting eaten by predators, I was a new student in my high school, a few years ago, I had a new environment and different people to meet because I came from a different country and I had to face with new changes that I did not have to deal with before and I just let those teasers push me around and discriminate me. 

I wanted myself to be unique and show that to them, who would want someone who is fake? I guess people in my high school thought it was funny that I was scared to talk to people because of my shyness and that I did not know much of the new environment in the United States, 

but then eventually listening to scenarios such as dealing with bullying and discriminating issues which I learned in health and government classes, I was able to find out I have friends that really cared for me, and I myself was able to find courage to stand up and say “I don’t care about what you think of me, I am my own person and am proud of being myself, if you don’t like stay out of my business and leave me alone.” Then after what I said people were able to understand my situation and they accepted how my background is and I made a lot of really good friends that stick by me in ups and downs. It connected with that simple but deep line as fire-eaters that I was a brave woman and I surely am proud of myself and any woman who stands up for themselves will be too.

     Thank you for the time of reading my letter of connection to your poem, “It’s a Woman’s World.” Words in the poem were really in deep thought even I could have made the meanings wrong but this is what I believe that made me connect.

Sincerely,

Jessica Ang