You are the living Goddess
and I bow to You.
All the crickets chant OM
and the moon glows.
Time lies down
in the corpse pose.
And the night births
hundreds of thousands of galaxies. Continue reading “Mystery by Janine Canan”
Tag: poetry
Sacred Outcry: A Poetic Trilogy by Mary Saracino
1. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD WOMEN
Howling from the mountaintops
wailing from the riverbanks
scooping the moon into their waning wombs
the old women know that lies kill,
distortions maim, hope isn’t enough to feed starving
babies, school the ignorant, put an end to war.
Like Furies, the old ones rise,
clench their furious fists against the blazing sun;
like Harpies they roar, casting dire warnings
upon the winds of change; soothsaying Sibyls
decipher omens, portend the future, speak in baffling koans.
With dakini wisdom they cut through
illusion, vote in primaries, attend caucuses,
raise their voices against power, shatter
the corrupted ceilings that chafe the crowns
of their wizened heads.
The wandering Maenads cry: “This is no country
for old women.”
Medea calls down her midnight powers,
prays for revolution, strengthens the tired tongues
of memory. Eloquence isn’t enough to heal
a wounded country; sequined celebrities
can’t mend a nation’s odiferous past. Kali avenges
her sisters, the long-patient Queens & Crones,
Maidens & Mothers. The forgotten ones
wait and watch and warn: “Beware the hubris
of ages. Beware the greedy hand that grabs the golden fleece.” Continue reading “Sacred Outcry: A Poetic Trilogy by Mary Saracino”
Her Name by Janine Canan
She is dancing her Dance
and everything changes.
This is what is meant by Impermanence,
buddhist for God.
She is dancing her Dance
and nothing remains.
This is what is meant by Nothingness,
atheist for God.
She is dancing her Dance
and everything is beautiful.
This is what is meant by Changing Woman,
navajo for God. Continue reading “Her Name by Janine Canan”
Rara Encarnación By Xochitl Alvizo
Rara Encarnación
Encarnación
The Word became flesh
Why is it always a word?
Did the Divine listen first?
Hear-ing into be-ing…
Or just speaking into being?
in
to
flesh
Carne
M’rahemet Shel Olam: The Emwomber of the Universe By Theresa Yugar
The following is a guest post written by Theresa A. Yugar, Ph.D. Candidate in women studies in religion at Claremont Graduate University.
This poem was written modeled on a Hebrew understanding of the world and God. In contrast to an Occidental or Western understanding of God, which elevates the noun of a sentence, a Semitic understanding of God highlights the “verb” of a sentence. In this way, God is a more active presence in the creation of a more just world.
M’rahemet Shel Olam: The Emwomber of the Universe
In the beginning the primal womb gave birth to all living creatures . . .
She gave birth to us . . . her daughters and her sons.
She is the great mother. Continue reading “M’rahemet Shel Olam: The Emwomber of the Universe By Theresa Yugar”
The Chispa* Carrier: Rosemary Radford Ruether By Renny Golden
The following is a guest post written by Renny Golden, Professor Emerita, Northeastern Illinois University.
The Chispa* Carrier: Rosemary Radford Ruether by Renny Golden
What kind of voice is breaking silence, and what kind of silence is being broken? Adrienne Rich
She came to prison with hidden keys. The way forward,
she said, is behind us. With only a spoon of history she
gutted a tunnel that ran below the plazas of Prince after Prince.
We sat waiting behind bars: mouldy histories, slop theologies
in mush bowls shoved under cell doors. Eat this or starve.
We prayed for deliverance we could not name.
We imagined her walking through deserts, our prophet
searching the sand for bones, pouring through ancient scripts,
gospels, archeologies, the dank stacks of basement libraries,
reliquaries with their throb of real blood, archives.
We rattled the bars with questions: Can she pick locks? Continue reading “The Chispa* Carrier: Rosemary Radford Ruether By Renny Golden”
Feminism and Religion 