Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Chelan Harkin: If Mothers Ruled the World



If Mothers Ruled the World

If mothers ruled the world
all would be whole, fed and well.

War would cease,
I mean, what kind of crazy fools
send their babies to war?

Instead we would simply ask,
"how to meet that unmet need?"
 
The table of the world
would be set
with square meals for the hearts
and all would gather round,
nourished.
 
The problem to solve
would be how to make
society more tender
and how do we open
all the borders
around our hearts,
that all parts of us
may have a place
for refuge.
 
If mothers ruled the world
we would be stewards
of the health, diversity and wild
of Mother Earth,
 
and each night
the stars would applaud
the beauty they witnessed here.
 
Magic would rise with the sun
and light
would migrate back home
to our eyes.
 
Creativity would pore abundantly
from humanity
like a full pitcher
of honeyed cream,
 
song, dance, storytelling, tribe
would not be luxuries, garnishes, dreams
they would be as universal and essential
as our breath,
 
they would be the main dishes
of our lives.
 
There would be ceremony
around resurrecting
every unblossomed voice
as it rooted into itself
and found its flower.
 
There would always be circles
to hold and witness
all laughter and tears.
Deep listening
would be as requisite as taxes
and taxes would go to healing,
growing, learning, thriving, celebration.
 
If mothers ruled the world
this world would go
from barren to fertile,
from wasteland
to rose garden,
from revenue
to relationship,
from burned out
to powerful, full bellied flame
almost overnight
 
but we're tired, we're lonely,
we're malnourished
because we don't have the support
we need
because mothers do not yet rule the world. 

It's time to feed The Mother
who lives within us all.

It's time to bring
whatever nourishment we possess
to Her lips.

Chelan Harkin
From Let Us Dance: The Stumble and Whirl
With the Beloved
  
Photos by Molly

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