Kathleen M. Dwyer
I Am More Than…
Listen!
I need to tell you something
Something maybe you haven't heard
with all the other stuff I've been telling you.
Something
maybe I've not felt…
only known…
till now.
ARE YOU LISTENING?
I am more than just a victim…
I mean you know all about that part of me…but…
did you know that I am more?
No longer do I try to rationalize…
minimize…legitimize…
the events of my life…the events of our lives.
I used to…yes…that's true
but
I survived!
And it's true…I was immobilized…paralyzed…
terrorized… for a long, long time
but
I survived!
And while I know I will
again be victimized…
I no longer have to analyze…sanctify…fantasize…
what is not…
For I AM!
I AM A WOMAN
Moving gracefully…deliberately…confidently… where I walk.
Victimized……YES Victim……NO
I AM A WOMAN WHO SURVIVED!
Kathleen M. Dwyer
In Case You Were Wondering
It is not revenge I am looking for
It isn't even justice that I seek
One serves no purpose
The other is not possible
Change is what I hunger for
Change in me
Change in you
Change in our systems
And then, the possibility of accountability and healing may really exist
Kathleen M. Dwyer
It's Hard to Believe
It's hard to believe that wholeness is a possibility
When pieces of life have been cut dead, used in places not meant to be and
discarded who knows where
Justified in the name of god…for all that is holy…
to insure that which is right, just and good
It is hard to imagine that cleansing can ever come
From the internal and external blood stains embedded in the body, lined in the
brain, trapping spirit from hopeful flight
Justified in the name of god…for all that is holy…
to insure that which is right, just and good
It is hard to think that healing can happen
When the smells, tastes, sounds and visions of violence and death live within
And the force of survival unreasonably, and not unoften, push on without
conscious desire
Maybe only when the spirit returns to where it began
will it know if it learned what it had come to learn and will it truly be cleansed and
whole,
able to rest in an unstained bed
wrapped in blankets of love, peace and hope
Kathleen M. Dwyer
Peace Be With Who?"
"May the Peace of the Lord Be with you Always…"
And the sun shone through the stained glass windows, embracing statues, robes
and people. It was as if, while they knelt worshipping, praising and listening
to "His" word, they were wrapped in a ray of holiness…
And that evening, as the sun began to set, she slowly crawled into his bed, for
the "word" had said that God is Father and Father is God…
And that to be in "His" grace you must
"Honor Thy Father and Mother"
"The Mass Has Ended…Go In Peace"
And the penis became the exploding bomb,
And the semen the fall-out that could not be cleansed;
But the Red Cross did not come…
For there was no war… There was no death…
There was no destruction
Just
"Our Father, who ar't in Heaven…"
"Remember O'Lord, Those who have Died…
May these…Find…Peace…"
And she still doesn't understand why death seems a viable alternative to life.
She has grown now…
Many things are good.
She knows that the scriptures and attitudes that say women must serve men…
That women are evil…
That women are responsible for everything, even death itself
Are not true…
Or, does she?
"May the Souls of the Faithfully Departed Rest in Peace"
Amen!
Kathleen M. Dwyer
CITY HAWK
In the middle of the city street
claws wedged tightly into the frozen prey
You actually stayed longer than you should have
Risking that precious second
that might have been the difference between
Life and death
How many of your friends
have you seen taken out
splattered over the pavement from just such a moment of survival?
Perhaps it is an unexpected gift from my past
that I was not surprised to see you staring at me
as you struggled to try to remove both yourself and your prey
Anything is possible
to the extremes of the outer edges
of both the positive and negative
But this morning,
as I obsessively planned, if not my permanent,
at least my temporary departure
You blocked my path…causing me to stop fully…and mirrored
back to me determination, courage and survival
Thank you!
Kathleen M. Dwyer 2/26/03
