dear goddesses

dear goddesses, women of the night

dear close, comforting ones

dear soft as a blanket

under which I hide

dear sleeping soldiers

stronger than light

dear lovely, rounded,

suckable ones

dear rosed and tuliped

eternal ones

dear thinking, murmuring,

feeling, speaking ones

dear screaming, angry,

protective ones,

defend me against my foes

don’t let my foes take root

inside me and become part of me

help me to love myself

the nutmeg smell of my skin

the emptiness of my head

after a rainstorm

the fullness of my heart

when I am with children

the hope in my fingertips

planting seeds, cleaning

cooking, writing, let me hold

the ones I love with grace and awe

and never doubt them or myself