Poem-A-Day: The Ballad of Cathay Williams William Cathay by Shane McCrae

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The Ballad of Cathay Williams William Cathay by Shane McCrae A white man wouldn't less He stripped me naked was Whipping me know I was a woman     got A name just turn It inside out And I'm a man How else I'm gonna know myself When I am called A white man wouldn't twice I had Smallpox twice after     I enlisted twice and had / To be hospitalized both times Ain't never once no doctor nor no nurse Discovered me No for no white woman I wouldn't have nothing for her to see She would want me to know she seen And I was watching close How else I'm gone to know myself When I am called And what she see is anyway how is she gonna know for sure Black man ain't got a hole down there How is she know he ain't A white man born wrong inside out and twice as big and mean And got a hole go twice as deep to hell How is that woman sure of anything at all How else I'm etc   Copyright © 2012 by Shane McCrae. Used with permission of the author. About this poem: Cathay Williams was the first African-American woman to enlist as a soldier in the United States Army. She did so in 1866, disguised as a man, and served for almost two years. Poetry by McCrae Mule November 27, 2012 Shane McCrae is the author of Mule (Cleveland State University Press, 2010). He is the recipient of a 2011 Whiting Writers' Award. Related Poems the sonnet-ballad by Gwendolyn Brooks The Ballad of the Children of the Czar by Delmore Schwartz One With Others [It was hotter then] by C. D. Wright Poem-A-Day started as a National Poetry Month program in 2006, delivering daily poems from newly-published poetry titles.   Due to popular demand, Poem-A-Day became a year-round program in 2010, featuring original, never-before-published poems by contemporary poets on weekdays, and classic poems on weekends.   Browse the Poem-A-Day archive for selections since 2010.  Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem In Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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