Sandy Coleman
Inspiration Piece
Sundance/Moondance
Response
by Marla Deschenes
There were days when we danced for the sun
There were days we danced for the moon
When our differences were what made us the same
Bound together by the heartbeat of the earth
The secrets of all women kept within our breasts
We danced to praise the goddesses for our blessed lives and knowledge.
Our bodies remember our arms in the air
The movement of our sisters when we were all women strong
When we used what the earth gave us to heal the sick
And to bring forth life from our wombs
When others revered us and clamored for our touch
We danced to praise the goddesses for our eternal gifts of life.
It wasn’t the sun that burned our sisters alive
It wasn’t the moon that betrayed them.
It was the fear of other gods and the oneness with the earth
The cowering of the weaker men, the ones wielding power in a book
With a god no one understood or wanted in their homes
The dancing became too soon obscured by the forests and lit only by moonlight.
The ash from their missing bodies rose in spirals
The air twisting the bones of dust into arms lifting up
The smoke filling in for flesh and bones in the gentle wind
The screams long reverberated from disintegrating trees
And the ghosts of the women lifted once more to dance for the sun
The moon the place of happenstance
For witches and for ghosts.
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