THE SCARLET WOMAN

The red badge is not of courage, it is of womanhood.
We are scarlet in our bleeding,
Exposing to ourselves and to the world the essence of our bodies.

Men fear this blood.
They fear our profligate use of the life force.
They, feeling that it must be conserved, are angered by our careless flow
They do not know, as we know
In our bones,
In our blood,
That we renew ourselves by bleeding.
We are redeemed, not by the blood of a saviour,
But by our own blood.

We are all scarlet women.
We are all Jezebel in red velvet and silk
Flowing with the Moon tides
Spiraling
Dancing in the moonlight.
And the mystery and majesty of our dance is this:
Even those of us who do not see it,
Will not acknowledge it,
Turn our faces from the Moon,
Dance in scarlet satin in our secret hearts.

January 18, 1996