An Un-Love Song
I wake with tears
beneath the clouds
my soul may well have been there
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it’s been a long, weary journey
from the mountain
to hear, to here.
I don’t know why she did it
why she converted to this religion
I don’t know why these women
chose a hard life in the corners
of the fields
maybe they just
wanted to be mothers
maybe they just
wanted to be daughters
maybe they just
missed their men
maybe they just
wanted to love
God.
So we have their story
We have the poem
The love song of all love songs
We were there
when it was written
We were there
when it was told
I have loved
You God
with all my soul
I have danced
to Your music
donned the costume
for Your play
I have stayed
the night
many nights
learning Your words
as if by candlelight
I have thrown myself
upon the rocks
for You
I have loved
You
have felt
loved by You
I was Your child
now grown
to half a life.
Once a man told me,
one of us is a rock
and one of us is a flower
Damn right I’m a flower.
he broke them
he broke them
I woke this morn
feeling the weight
as they came crashing down
I want to dive into the crashing
waves, they’re waving me on
I want to live, to float
not knowing
where I’m going
never wanting to leave
we are the leaves,
and the buds
and the honey
and the streams of milk
we are the land and the sea
Rising up to greet us
We are everything
and we are nothing
My heart is heavy
those who worshipped idols
who worshipped the body of
both meat and milk
the cow is a female
but there are those
who do not understand
the precision of language
who do not distinguish
between a cow
and bull
They are here with us now
they are worshipping their cows
they are worshipping their bulls
they are worshipping themselves
they are burning us down
they are dancing around
burning our hearts
They are false idols in our midst
Our leaders, they have fallen so low
the women wrap
themselves in prayer shawls
and their eyes burn
on the other side
of the divide
the men throw tongues of fire
the women raise their children
and they know not
from where they came
they should have been scholars
they should have been leaders
they should have loved
the children
more than they loved themselves
they dropped us
they stomped on us
they stomped
all over
all over
all over
God.
Our dog is barking
howling, growling
driving us mad
he sniffs out a fox
or some creature
he detests
on the edge
of our home
amongst the weeds
there is no peace
in our home
under the trees
we fall
to sleep
we are asleep.
I awake
This morn
with a heavy heart
the animals
have taken over
they have made
our children
the sacrifice
for which they received
no commandment
they have desecrated
The Holy of Holies
they have lied
and murdered our souls
I am here to tell the story
to write the poem
To cry, my heart,
To cry, my heart
Oh Jerusalem
We are burning
from their fire
they have written
a new song
of rage
they remember the fire
and not the sea
they remember the fire
and not the stone
they remember the fire
and not the mountain
they remember the fire
and not the Glory
they remember the fire
and forget the stories,
there is no all-night toil
that can eradicate
the need for justice
She is crying in the streets
She is burning to the ground
She is weeping from there to here
muting the trumpets
to no avail
the tears have not,
are not, enough
to drown the fire
there will be no peace
until justice is done.
They have forgotten the poem
they have un-sung
our song.
