Before We Fill the Chairs

Before we fill the chairs,

let us give thanks for the words, the gifts of a writer’s life, that has brought us to this point, to give shape to the darkest forces and defeat them.

Offer gratitude for the healthy relationships that support our rights to be women, to choose as women, to live as women. For the nurturing spaces which give rise to such rights.

Before sitting,

let’s call to mind young and old, rich and poor, addict and alcoholic, foreigner and the homebody, and all genders and races are counting on us to act out in the world, and not just on stage.

Recall that not every woman can speak for herself. Some are in dark places where it is not safe to come out of hiding.  One may be in dark place where it is safe, and she still will not reveal herself.

Before we take our places,

remember it is more than the old woman who never talks about “down there”, or the transgender female who is punished for carrying a purse, or the names for the vagina.

Before we sit in the chairs,

let us remember how to stand.

AJW

2/13/15