The Women Gather

The women gather

because it is not unusual

to seek comfort in our hours of stress

a man must be buried

It is not unusual

that the old bury the young

though it is an abomination

It is not strange

that the unwise and the ungentle

carry the banner of humaneness

though it is a castration of the spirit

It no longer shatters the intellect

that those who make war

call themselves diplomats

we are no longer surprised that the

unfaithful pray loudest every sunday

in every church and sometimes

in rooms facing east

though it is a sin and a shame

So how do we judge a man

most of us love from our need to love

not because we find someone deserving

most of us forgive

because we have trespassed

not because we are magnanimous

most of us comfort

because we need comforting

our ancient rituals demand that

we give what we hope to receive

And how do we judge a man

we learn to greet when meeting

to cry when parting

and to soften our words at times of stress

the women gather with cloth and ointment

their busy hands bowing to laws that decree

willows shall stand swaying but unbroken

against even the determined wind of death

we judge a man by his dreams,

not alone his deeds

we judge a man by his intent,

not alone his shortcomings

we judge a man because it is not unusual

to know him through those who love him

the women gather strangers

to each other because

they have loved a man

it is not unusual to sift through ashes

and find an unburnt picture