For Destitute Women on Dark Streets
by Claire J. Baker
When you feel like mud
puddles splattered about
by careless feet, remember
you are crystal clear,
as vital as rain.
Should you fall from glory
down a slippery slope
you had not foreseen,
may you listen and hear
the stars’ healing story.
Here is the moon’s
luminous cloak
that you shine
in the dark
like God.
LENT 2011
(Spring Renewal)
by Maureen Hartmann
This year there have been
uprisings of the grassroots
against oppressive governments,
like Wisconsin, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia.
The protests are signs
of a growth in consciousness.
A maturation, like a small amount
of yeast in dough for a large loaf,
spreads throughout the Earth.
This year the grassroots implant,
even in many deaths,
seeds of hope and renewal.
To Be of Use
Marge Piercy
The people I love the best jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows…
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience, who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward, who do what has to be done, again and again.
I want to be with people who submerge in the task, who go into the fields to harvest and work in a row and pass the bags along, who are not parlor generals and field deserters but move in a common rhythm when the food must come in or the fire be put out.