March 1, 2005
Sisterhood
by Sarojni Mehta-Lissak
To all women who have forgotten,
know we are here, know . . .
We will support you when your faith has dried up,
like the milk which once flowed freely from your breasts.
We will support you when the man whom you once loved
walks out, leaving you with mouths to feed and souls to mend.
We will support you when grief surrounds you, wrapping your
smile in a black veil, and your heart in a blanket of sadness.
We will support you when illness befalls your body lying in
repose, awaiting the touch of our healing hands.
We will support you when the baby you carry in your fertile
womb departs without words, leaving you to fall in the cradle of
our arms where you'll be soothed and rocked by the mute love
of our maternal knowing.
We are here for you. We are your sisters who have met with
sorrow before, binding it to our souls so tightly that we will
never forget to offer the hand of comfort to another, nor will
we ever let tears pool in empty vessels of loneliness,
floating along a current of forgotten hope.
We will buoy you in the ocean of our own collected tears,
never to let you drown, never to leave you alone, never to let
you die in hidden isolation cloistered away from the world.
We are your sisterhood.
Open yourself like the petals of the stunning flower you are . . .
vulnerable and delicate, beautiful and strong.
Be free to release the weight of your pain to us, so that we may catch you . . .
then trust that we will infuse you with the sustenance you need,
the understanding you crave, and the words of encouragement
you must hear so that you may let go, or be on your way to deliverance.
And soon the day will come, when we will turn to you with misty eyes
and anguished hearts, ready to receive your gift of love to us -- an ever
flowing river. Now, then, and . . . forever.
Sarojni Mehta-Lissak writes poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction from
her home in Long Beach, California. Her work has appeared in Wild Violet,
The Birthkit Newsletter, Midwifery Today and Moondance.org.