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