Monday, October 21, 2013

Spirit, Rising

printshoppacks.com


To my sisters, in Kigali,
who somehow survived 
the horror of genocide,
losing so many loved ones
in the bloodbath,
to my sisters, survivors of rape, 
brutality and displacement 
in the Congo,
yet still able to care about others,
in whatever refuge you have found
upon the desert,
to my sisters, enslaved around the world,
made beasts of burden
who grow thin
so corporations and 
the military industrial complex 
can grow fat,
to my sisters in Palestine,
trying to survive 
amidst the bombs and tanks.........

know there are women in this world
whose reverence is for your right to life,
unassaulted, on the plot of land
on which you find yourself
attempting to survive.

You have our respect and, even, awe,
that in the midst of rubble, 
and the bombing and the burying
of your children,
you somehow find a way,
still, to live.
You find a way to make a life:
when no soft bed is near,
you make a nest with stones.

What happens to one,
happens to us all,
and so I weep for you,
but also I applaud you
for being Woman,
the Divine Feminine,
which, if it were allowed,
would create the world we need,
in place of this world 
of unconscionable 
violence and greed.

There is much work 
for we women to do.
We cannot feed and care for all,
but we can feed and care 
for the ones
right in front of us.
You show us how.
We do not set aside our ethics for money.
We do not waste our effort making war,
when it is needed for tending
the living:
planting gardens and trees,
even when the only water we have 
to nourish them
comes from our tears.

I see the spark 
that kindles
in your eyes,
that warms
when you recognize 
we see you,
Sisters of the earth,
in your struggle to survive.

We applaud your courage
as we hold our breath
and watch
your spirits rise.


9 comments:

  1. You address the hard stuff here in a way that honors those women in the midst of struggle. May we be able, more and more, to protect each other.

    ReplyDelete
  2. even a trembling voice speaks louder than silence...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I am cheering you and your voice for all the feminine divine~ Sherry you should start a nonprofit, know you should rule the world~ I vote for you, Wild Woman!! YOU turn sad into wisdom of what has happened and what we should do to help! Bravo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Theists such as I believe in a two-fold creation presence... God and The Divine Sofia. The second is rarely discussed, also known as Wisdom. I am more and more convinced that wisdom is a female trait for the most part, since we aren't the warring ones. We look for peaceful solutions.

    Thank you for honoring all these heroic women, who persevere under oppressive regimes and lack of basic resources. Amen. Amy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Angels are thick as thieves conspiring for women everywhere!

    ALOHA from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    =^..^=

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a beautiful poem filled with compassion...I loved every word.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a beautiful sentiment Sherry. I hope they at least know our hearts are with them the way your poem describes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. love this. Very well written about so horrible a subject.

    ReplyDelete
  9. i agree...you have given voice to those who have none and told a story many do not want to hear...or would rather ignore because it makes life messy....

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for visiting. I appreciate it and will return your visit soon.