2024 NaPM 25 April

[RiverNotch]

First there was a woman
who had to play a harlot
in order to achieve

her womanly rights. Then there was a harlot
which, in ancient parlance,
was repentant,

although perhaps her harlotry
had been added to fit the type
of a foreign woman. Following her,

there was this foreign woman
who was undeniably righteous
but her lot was much worse,

in ancient circles, than that of a harlot:
she was a widow. Finally there was a woman
who was perhaps righteous

but her king forced her
first to be a harlot
then to be a widow,

with her king then becoming
an icon of repentance,
her foreign husband rotting,

like her first child, in a grave
long since forgotten, 
her second son becoming

renowned for his wisdom,
and she herself remaining
little more than what's been said.

That no other women
are honoured, at this point,
until the very end,

could be because the author
of this genealogy
was as much an ancient

as the world he lived in,
but the truth, I think,
was if this world had been

just a hair more equal,
the impact of the lesson
at the very end

would surely have been dulled.
In honouring Tradition,
we memorialize the worst

only to reject it
when the time to act arrives:
the Ever-Virgin Mother

and her Son, our Lord,
were brought forth to transform
a world that silenced women,
not to keep it going.

First there was a woman
who had to play a harlot
in order to achieve

her womanly rights. Then there was a harlot
which, in ancient parlance,
was repentant,

although perhaps her harlotry
was added to fit the type
of a foreign woman. Following her,

there was this foreign woman
who was undeniably righteous
but her lot was much worse,

in ancient circles, than a harlot:
she was a widow. Finally there was a woman
who was perhaps righteous

but her king forced her
first to be a harlot
then to be a widow,

with her king then becoming
an icon of repentance
and their second son, renowned

for his wealth and wisdom,
and she herself
little more than what's been said.

That no other women
are honoured, at this point,
until the very end,

could be because the author
of this pedigree
was as much an ancient

as the world he lived in,
but the truth, I think, 
was if this world had been

just a hair more equal,
the impact of the lesson
at the very end

would surely have been dulled.
In honouring Tradition,
we memorialize the worst

only to reject it
when the time to act arrives:
the Ever-Virgin Mother

and her Son, our Lord,
were brought forth to transform
a world that silenced women,
not to keep it going.