Dirty Little Secrets

so they call me a “Liberal”
i don’t believe in their lies
i don’t believe that “family”
gives men the power to tyrannize

i don’t believe that money
will trickle down from the rich
i don’t believe in the greedy
i know they think i’m a bitch

i don’t believe homosexuals
pose a threat to anyone
i don’t believe that keeping quiet
is going to help right the wrong

i don’t think your religion
stands up to my scrutiny
a long history of oppression
is right there for all to see

i don’t believe in racism
things are never black or white
i don’t believe in sexism
it’s not your god-given right

so they call me a “Liberal”
am i supposed to feel shame?
i don’t believe in your labels
but i’ll be proud of that name

she enters the forest
and moves not the grass
emersed in the water
no waves does she cast

there’s nothing can equal
her fathomless depths
everything is peaceful
when her mind is at rest

from moment to moment
the future’s not come
think not of the past
there’s nothing to be done

spring comes with its flowers
autumn with the moon
summer with breezes
winter sings its tune

so on I ran… faster
but I couldn’t escape myself
really just wanting to die
remembering it all
my hair turned from fire to ash
because I love you

for you know what we shared
more beautiful than the stars
caught in a web of desires
longing spreads it’s light upon the sea
my thoughts will never change
even when I glimpse but a memory

this life is bitter with love
a web I can weave no more
my lips are dry, my fingers ache
and time can never mend the spaces
where my fingers strayed
caressing the silences between

the fairest thing is what one loves
never again will I see
the highlands and the stream
never again will I hear
the sound of pipers as I did then
walking in the footsteps of the gods

Had you wished for things good or noble,
had your tongue not spoken ill,
shame would not have shown from your eyes,
but there it is, as you will.

Turn to me, dear one, turn your face,
I loved you once, it seems so long ago,
unveil for me in your eyes, their grace,
now the thought of you shakes my soul.

The moon rose full outside my window,
and dark-eyed Sleep, child of Night,
in my Dream, I spoke to the Goddess,
who restored my honour and my Light.

I wrapped myself well in gossamer garments,
now to the song above all songs, in flight,
laughing Love’s low, bittersweet laughter,
sweet as the sound of moving wings of Night.

i can be a royal bitch like you wouldn’t believe,
i can think such nasty thoughts like no one can conceive,
i can have such mood swings and i can hold it all inside,
and i don’t think you want to know the dirty things i hide.

i resist your labels, i don’t fit into your scene,
i am good and i am evil, maybe something in between,
you see what you want to see or what i feel like showing,
there’s something more behind these eyes worth knowing.

i can love you better than anyone you’ve had before,
i can write you poems and other things you can’t ignore,
i can walk into your dreams and show you things about yourself,
and there’s no amount of money that can match my wealth.

i resist your labels, i don’t fit into your scene,
i am good and i am evil, maybe something in between,
you see what you want to see or what i feel like showing,
there’s something more behind these eyes worth knowing.

i can show you glimpses of my light and of my dark,
i can reveal all of me, or keep things hidden in my heart,
i can be mistrusting and jealous or thoughtful and kind,
but i sure don’t take kindly to being left behind.

i resist your labels, i don’t fit into your scene,
i am good and i am evil, maybe something in between,
you see what you want to see or what i feel like showing,
there’s something more behind these eyes worth knowing.

the only real hope for peace
is wise women,
a few from each nation
where men make war,
women who know that they, too
could die in this darkness.
bring them together by the river,
let them offer food, drink, tobacco
to the Mother Goddess,
let them tell stories to each other,
sing songs, recite poems,
tell of the horrors they have lived.
let them bear witness to each other,
and listen with the heart of a mother,
for caoining has no national borders.
let them be mothers and sisters
and daughters and friends,
let the grandmothers speak truth
to overcome hopelessness and despair.
women sitting in circles as equals
supported by their governments,
let them negotiate peace
and heal humankind.