Say Yes
 By Andrea Gibson
 

 when two violins are placed in a room
 if a chord on one violin is struck  
 the other violin will sound the note  
 if this is your definition of hope
 this is for you  
 the ones who know how powerful we are  
 who know we can sound the music in the people around us  
 simply by playing our own strings  
for the ones who sing life into broken wings
open their chests and offer their breath  
as wind on a still day when nothing seems to be moving  
 spare those intent on proving god is dead  
 for you when your fingers are red
 from clutching your heart
 so it will beat faster 
for the time you mastered  the art of giving yourself
for the sake of someone else   
for the ones who have felt what it is to crush the lies
and lift the truth so high the steeples bow to the sky
this is for you

this is also for the people who wake early to watch flowers bloom
who notice the moon at noon on a day when the world
has slapped them in the face with its lack of light 
for the mothers who feed their children first
and thirst for nothing when they’re full 
 
this is for women
and for the men who taught me only women bleed with the moon
but there are men who cry when women bleed
men who bleed from women’s wounds
and this is for that moon 
on the nights she seems hung by a noose
for the people who cut her loose
and for the people still waiting for the rope to burn
about to learn they have scissors in their hands 

this is for the man who showed me
the hardest thing about having nothing
is having nothing to give
who said the only reason to live is to give ourselves away
so this is for the day we’ll quit our jobs and work for something real 
we’ll feel for sunshine in the shadows
look for sunrays in the shade
this is for the people who rattle the cage that slave wage built
and for the ones who didn’t know the filth until tonight
but right now are building songs that sound something like 
people turning their porch lights on and calling the homeless back home

this is for all the shit we own
and for the day we’ll learn how much we have
when we learn to give that shit away
this is for doubt becoming faith
for falling from grace and climbing back up
for trading our silver platters for something that matters
like the gold that shines from our hands when we hold each other
   
this is for the grandmother who walked a thousand miles on broken glass
to find that single patch of grass to plant a family tree
where fruit would grow to laugh
for the ones who know the math of war
has always been subtraction
so they live like an action of addition
for you when you give like every star is wishing on you
and for the poeple still wishing on stars
this is for you too

this is for the times you went through hell so someone
else wouldn’t have to
for the time taught a 14 year old girl she was powerful
this is for the time you taught a 14 year old boy he was beautiful
for the radical anarchist asking a republican to dance
cause what’s the chance of everyone moving from right to left
if the only moves they see are on NBC and CBS
this is for the no becoming yes
for scars becoming breath
for saying i love to to people who will never say it to us
for scraping away the rust and remembering how to shine
for the dime you gave away when you didn’t have a penny
for the many beautiful things we do
for every some we’ve ever sung
for refusing to believe in miracles
because miracles are the impossible coming true
and everything is possible
 
this is for the possibility that guides us
and for the possibilities still waiting to sing
and spread their wings inside us
because tonight saturn is on his knees
proposing with all his ten thousand rings
that whatever song we’ve been singing we sing even more
the world needs us right now more than it ever has before
pull all your strings
play every chord
if you’re writing letters to the prisoners
start tearing down the bards
if you’re handing out flashlights in the dark
start hanging out stars
never go a second hushing the percussion of your heart
play loud
play like you know the clouds have left too many people cold and broken
and you’re their last chance for sun
play like there’s no hoping brighter days will come
play like the apocalypse is only 4…3…2
but you have a drum in your chest that could save us
you have a song like a breath that could raise us
like the sunrise into a dark sky that cries to be blue
play like you know we won’t survive if you don’t
but will if you do
play like saturn is on his knees
proposing with all of his ten thousand rings
that we give every single breat
this is for saying – yes
this is for saying – yes

Blessings for the Decade of Being All That We Can Be!

***
The Queen welcomes questions concerning all issues of interest to women in their mature years. Send your inquiries to thequeenofmyself@aol.com.

CONSULT THE MIDLIFE MIDWIFE™
Queen Mama Donna offers upbeat, practical and ceremonial guidance for individual women and groups who want to enjoy the fruits of an enriching, influential, purposeful, passionate, and powerful maturity.