The Women Are Rising

a song written the first Int'l Women's Day after the massacre at L'Ecole Polytechnique

 

The women are rising and changing their ways

Women stand up to be counted these days

The call's going out on dream waves, rhythmic as a drum

Calling to me in my sleep and my waking, "Come

Come, come, come, come, come, come, come."

 

With every living cell in my body, every beating of my heart

I fight the forces that held me for so very long apart

from my soul and my life.

But, oh, the force that keeps me here

is an ancient, paralyzing, ice-cold clutching fear.

 

The women are moving and learning new ways

Women stand up to be counted these days

The call is persistent and won't be denied;

in the warm restless wind it blows

Insistent as passion, relentless as pride, I know

I know, oh I know, yes, I know.

 

With every living cell in my body, every beating of my heart

I know I belong to the Goddess awaking

To Her I pledge I'll do my part

for Soul and for Life

But oh, to stand only to fall --

like the fourteen women students murdered in Montreal.

 

The women are raging and grieving today

Women are standing, and don't go away

The call's ringing out on the streets now,

new messages on the drum

The Mother is calling with a million voices, "Come!

Come, come, come, come, come, come, come!"

 

With every living cell in our bodies

every beating of our hearts

we're living on levels beyond what we knew

as we pick the old patterns apart

of our souls and our lives.

But oh, the patience and the pain

and the too many pointless losses with every gain.