I find myself standing upon another threshold Bags packed Affairs ordered The past at my back as I stand poised to step into my future In this liminal space I wish to pause To linger in this brief moment Between heartbeats Between footsteps To reflect on this transition
I have packed the important things Lessons Friendships Memories Love Potential Hope I have purged the obsolete Pain Fear Illusions Expectations Obligations A version of a life I outgrew
I note my era of milestones Marriage Motherhood Misery greater than a person should ever hold
I will miss the map pin piercing the shape of what has been and always will be home Marking the places and people that ripened me into the woman I am Whose stories now inform my mythology
The second hand strains I breathe in one more breath Infuse the ether of a fading life Into the nucleus of my cells As I complete my crossing Into the dawn of my new life
At the edge of the longest day I gathered drops of sunlight into a bottle Secured it with cord and hung it at my throat Warmth and light illuminated my path Freeing me to see that I did not only hold the light I was the light and the light was me As I journeyed through the crossroads I shed the darkness I had allowed to consume me Abandoned it like a wool cloak on Midsummer day Moved forward ensconced in my own powerful light Willing into truth I'd never be dimmed again
I exited the crossroads The weight of unworthiness falling away behind me I salted the path as I walked Erecting a barrier against old demons who might follow I reminded myself that joy cannot grow in poisoned soil I vowed to never return to this infertile place Gnarled roots and sharp thorns grabbed at me Tried to hold me in that familiar barren land I would no longer be held My light became a glowing blade of will And I rended myself free of the patterns of my past Leaving them as sacrifices at the edge of this intersection Of my old life and new
I followed the road's gentle path through new lands When I came to a willow by a stream Raw, ravaged and weary I sat beneath its shaded canopy and allowed myself to rest I wrapped myself in the cool, green safety beneath its branches I put down my burdens I rinsed my wounds Lulled into meditation by the whispering water I allowed myself to feel peace in place of vigilance I listened to the birds above me The crickets around me I allowed myself to be present I allowed myself to feel The dappled light on my skin The kisses of the sweet breeze on my cheeks The cool, damp grass beneath me The steady, gentle beat of my heart The slow rhythm of my breathing
In that tranquil place Of healing Of new beginning Of rebalancing In that moment where I was Obligated to no one by myself In that space where I remembered how simple joy can be I cupped the bottle of sunlight to my chest And knew I'd never fear the shadows again
Women! Do not center your lives around men Pleasing Appeasing We are not the prey for their predator Though some argue nature made it so
We are Medusa's progeny Serving oleander sweet tea And Aqua Tofana cocktails We carry the legacies of Lilith Hecate and the Morrigan Skywoman and Diana of the Hunt In our bones
We are born with cunning woven into our shadows Placed there by the midwives and wise-women Kitchen witches and herbalists Shaman and priestesses Who came before us
We have our own form of politics Whispered around washing wells and sewing circles Book clubs and coffee tables We don our poison rings and hat pins Let them think our docility safe While we keenly observe and note and remember
It is time to end the war waged upon our bodies The raping of our spirit The subjugation of our gender We are the gateway of life We break ourselves open through blood and pain To do the Goddess's work of creation
Too long have we allowed the world to think us Weak Helpless Foolish Simple Incapable We must remind the world of our strength
Boudicca was beaten and her daughters raped And in her rage she waged war against Rome Joan d'Arc stood against the English and the Church A God-touched, heretic, peasant child whose heart would not burn Harriet Tubman survived the travesties of slavery Another God-touched woman who delivered 70 other souls to freedom And we know there are so many more like them
Though we may not find our names etched in history We are no less powerful than those who are Our lives are OUR CHOICE We are not chattel nor trophies We are creation gifted autonomy It is our divine right to wield our lives as we see fit
Let them vilify us as Succubi Mad women Uppity bitches And cunts
We know we are Goddesses Priestesses Witches And warriors
We are exhausted We are fed up We are wrathful The Divine Feminine rises The world is set ablaze around us But we are not tied to the pyre We choose to look the world dead in the eye And dance while it burns
Words Wishes and Wisdom 