women

How the Universe Doubled – September 2021

From Sacred Fire, 1998, by Nancy Wood

 

The doubling of the Universe took place when people

were sleeping, except for a few old women

who remembered how passion was created

to save the world from boredom. In dresses

made of spiderwebs, those old women

 

Sang a love song, heard from star to star and tree to tree,

even from fish to fish and blossom to bee.

Those who were in tune with one another

responded, and those who were not

slept their lives away. As the old women

 

Watched, the heat of love expanded, on and on, with colors

so bright they singed the edge of indifference

in one night. The Universe doubled

with the passion of those old women,

who believed the power of their feminine selves

would overcome

the doubtful hearts of men.

Three Sisters – June 2021

from Spirit Walker, 1993, by Nancy Wood

Three Sisters

 

We are the Three Sisters of Fire and Earth and Water.

Without us, nothing lives or grows.

 

We are the Three Daughters of Sun and Moon and Stars.

Without us, no path exists through the universe.

 

We are the Three Wives of Birds and Trees and Animals.

Without us, there would be no wings or roots or bones.

 

We are the Three Mothers of Clouds and Wind and Rain.

Without us, our children would go hungry.

 

We are the Three Friends of Beauty.

Without us, flowers would look like stones.

 

We are the Three Grandmothers of Wisdom.

Without us, men would only speak of war.

 

We are the Three Aunts of Endurance.

Without us, what would survive?

Earth Woman – April 2021

From Hollering Sun, 1972, by Nancy Wood

 

Earth woman with hands

That shape the bread of time.

Earth woman with

Pumpkin-seed earrings and

Bracelets of wild plum.

Your house is made of summer.

Your children are the crops

Of all good seasons

Growing strong

In the house of earth woman

Who weaves the thread of life.

Woman-Heart Spirit – November 2019

From Dancing Moons, 1995, by Nancy Wood

 

The woman-heart spirit was released by the Creator

a long time ago in order to nurture children,

animals and plants, trees and rocks, and also

men, who resisted the softening of their wild nature.

 

The woman-heart spirit roamed the deserts and the mountains

looking for ways to create awareness,

the food the earth needed for survival,

and the recognition of beauty in the land.

 

The woman-heart spirit was wild, untamed

like the river and the wind

who taught her knowledge of a certain kind,

different from the knowledge of men or children.

 

The woman-heart spirit became the guardian

of language and music and the stories

needed by birds and animals and people, as

the world changed and imagination dried up.

 

The woman-heart spirit became the keeper of compassion,

strong yet invisible, the connection between

all living things. The woman-heart spirit

is nothing more than love, overlooked when the world began.

Of Mountains and Women – June 2018

From Spirit Walker, 1993, by Nancy Wood

 

The hearts of mountains

and the hearts of women

Are both the same. They beat to

an old rhythm, an old song.

 

Mountains and women

are made from the sinew of the rock.

Mountains and women

are home to the spirits of the earth.

Mountains and women

are created with beauty all around.

Mountains and women

embrace the mystery of life.

 

Mountains give patience to women.

Women give fullness to mountains.

Celebrate each mountain, each woman.

Sing songs to mountains and to women.

Dance for them in your dreams.

 

The spirit of mountains and of women

Will give courage to our children

Long after we are gone.