1.Swirl of gold gleaming in our daughters’ eyes.Amen. Whorl of cirrostratus haloingthe moon. Amen. Your fingerprints areeverywhere. Lady of Ice. Lady of Sand.of Maple Star and Gingko Fan. of Rot.of Scat. of Hoarders and Whores. Goddess,is there any title you would refuse?of Shopping Carts with One Wonky Wheel.of Loofas. of Wedding Cakes. of ArtisanalPumpernickel Loaves. of Mud. of Moss.of Mirages. of Vultures and of Vespers.We'd like to pour you into a ceramic mugwe made in high school, sloppy rings and drippy glaze.We'd like to tuck you into a locket,2.fold you tiny into a locket,wear you around our necks, the ultimateamulet. You're no saint of narrow scope.Your sight is wide, your praxis: gatherhood.of Violin recitals and the A String Concerto.of Messy Music and Divine Harmony.of Cacophony. of Canticle. of Beginner's luck.Dead finch on the sidewalk under a bloomingmagnolia tree. of Ovation andOration and Oblation and Elevationand Desecration. Carpenter ants.Water bears. Leptons. Lady of SmallestUnits and Magnificatus Extremis.Lady of Made Up Latin. of Lingua Franca.3.Teach us your lingua franca, your pidgin.Lady of Tamil. Lady of Greek.of Nahuatl. of Sanskrit. of Urdu.Eskimo. Korean. Hebrew.Chinese. Egyptian. Nushu.Lady of Mariology. Angelology.Eschatology. All the -ologiesand all the -olatries. Lunolatryand Icthyolatry. Astrolatryand Zoolatry. Lady of Words. TheWord. of Celery, even, the fibrous kindimpossible to chew. of Math, ComplexCalculus, mind-bending Theoretical Physics.All that, plus simpler stuff, like addition.4.Lady of the Simple Truth of Addition,like loneliness +1 and what that equals.Lady of Every Possible Love.Same sex. Trans. Bi. Asexual. Pansexual.Lady of All Loving Formulations &Goddess of Every Gender. Transgender.Cisgender. Agender. Pangender. Non-binary. Two-spirit. Genderqueer. All the genders.Holiness of every color. Black. Pink. Red. Blue. Grey.All the colors and color combinations.All the ages, zygote to crone. Goddessof Puberty, of Menstruation, of Menopause.Goddess of the Blood Moon, bleed us, lead usthrough the shadow of your pulsing seasons.5.Through deep shadow of each pulsing season,lead us, Lady of Every Kind of Blood.A. B. O. Positive. Negative. Anemic.Cold-blooded. Warm-blooded. Sap-blooded.Overstory and understory.Root, trunk, branch, foliage. Sky and earth.Foot, torso, arm, head. Death and birth. Goddessof Endless Litanies, we like to imagineyour special grace lighting our darkestcorners, the forgotten cobwebbed crevices.We imagine your bright gaze burning updew on the neglected rake. We hold tightto the myth of specialness, chosendom.But, Madonna, you're no leashed deity.6.Lady, you're no leashed deity. No chainforged between you and our basin. Our grove.Our desert. Our field. Our mountain. Free-rangeGoddess, you've answered to many names.Asherah. Innana. Ishtar. Astarte.Sauska. Isis. Venus. Ema. Sophia. Shekinah.Semiramis. Amaterasu. Aphrodite.Queen of the Night. Queen of Heaven. A hostof others we've lost or forgotten. Nowwe cry out with tears Lady, I believe;help thou my unbelief. Swallow uslike tepid water. Hold us in your handslike tufts of fog. Tuck your song into ourwooden bodies, you the string, you the bow.Teach us music fluid enough for praise.7.Teach us music fluid enough to paintyour praise. Gift us eyes wide enough to drinkyour crystalline wonders. Stretch our earstuba-huge to catch your spirit-whispers.Make of our ragged patches one quilt warmenough for every dreamer: rock, bug, sprout.You are the Shepherdess knocking iciclesfrom our wooly locks. We are the sheep,sure of sheer, oblivious to your care,Our Lady of Ice. Our Lady of Sand.of Maple Star and Gingko Fan.of. of. of. Your fingerprints everywhere:Cloud-whorl, a halo round the moon. Amen.Gold-swirl, our daughters’ radiant eyes. Amen.
Read full abstract