Spirit, Rising

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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.