THE WOMEN OF DAN DANCE WITH SWORDS IN THEIR HANDS TO MARK THE TIME WHEN THEY WERE WARRIORS

I did not fall from the sky

I

nor descend like a plague of locusts

to drink color and strength from the earth

and I do not come like rain

as a tribute or symbol for earth's becoming

I come as a woman

dark and open

some times I fall like night

softly

and terrible

only when I must die

in order to rise again.

I do not come like a secret warrior

with an unsheathed sword in my mouth

hidden behind my tongue

slicing my throat to ribbons

of service with a smile

while the blood runs

down and out

through holes in the two sacred mounds

on my chest.

I come like a woman

who I am

spreading out through nights

laughter and promise

and dark heat

warming whatever I touch

that is living

consuming

only

what is already dead.