Litany of Wild Women by Barbara Billey

Litany of Wild Women

Great-Great Grandmothers Rose, Emilie, Mary Ann

Great Grandmothers Filiane, Ethel, Annie

Grandmothers Cecile, Alice

Mother JoAnn 

God Mother Geraldine. 

You

with generous bodies and crazy hats

coupled to silent men who kept secret

their hearts in favour of agility

in their trials of oppressions.

You

with passions and purposes

dropping seeds of wisdom like polyphonic sound

into the Earth of my body

cheering me on through stumbles into fluid grace –

remarkable imperfections.

You

are in Flow now, flying on Hawk’s wings

hanging out in one bursting nest

over drinks with Shekinah and Sheila Na Gig

under the bright ball of the Super Moon. 

I 

lay prostrate before you my beloveds

with gratitude for blessing me with 

your fortitude and serious fun.

Pray with us, all you Wild Women.

Barbara Billey, 07 Feb 2021 (Revised 22 May 2024)

Hawk Sounds

You Got to Run (Spirit of the Wind)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5zb0WTSLsY

You Got To Run (Spirit of the Wind)

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tanya Tagaq

Whether you're woman or whether you're man
Sometimes you got to take a stand
Just because you think you can
You got to run
You got to run

Whether you're woman or whether you're man
Sometimes you got to take a stand
Just because you think you can
You got to run
You got to run

Trying against the odds you're in a trance
Say who did you think you are to have a chance?
You're a no one from a place
Where everyone knows your face
The come and go way they know the sun
So you better hang on and hey you better run
'Cause here's your chance and your race has begun

Down in a hole
You feel like two different people in your soul
Feel like a loser until you see that as you bend
You learn to be your own best friend
And you learn how and you learn when
To take a chance on the spirit of the wind

Whether you're woman or whether you're man
Sometimes you got to take a stand
Just because you think you can
You got to run
You got to run

Babe ain't we been down
We've been so broke and been so low that I kissed the ground
But you can see yourself a winner
Beyond the money and the greed
Beyond the pride is a pure untested need
And to be a champion is more than luck and speed
It's power and freedom in the spirit of the wind

Whether you're woman or whether you're man
Sometimes you got to take a stand
Just because you know you can
You got to run
You got to run

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Buffy Sainte-Marie / Ian Fern Campeau / Thomas Ehren / Timothy Hill Craig

You Got To Run (Spirit of the Wind) lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.