I am one woman among many
I am many women in one
I dance on Saharan sand in my living room
I walk in the garden and my footfalls echo through Africa
I hear yours there too.
I; an only child will lift my heart and glory in my sisterhood
I will celebrate our differences and rejoice in our similarities
While playing in the sun, I remember that sun will rise for you later
As I splash in the puddles, I will know the rains fall for you too.
While one of us stands in the sunlight I will never despair
While one of us is in bondage I will never be free.
I dream of you across the miles
Taste spice and sweet that will never pass my lips.
I feel chains on wrists that are free
I swim with you in warm clear oceans
I, who live inland.
I am freed by the birth of my children
Freed to return to my place among others
My singularity gone, I can join you in birth
A common dance floor
Away from the slavery of a birth with violence
The cutting knife.
I come back to the place I left then
Left of my own choice
Or maybe I was led away
By them
I will raise my voice and glorify a maker
One who is not gowned and masked.
©Jane A;