for Jeanette
You made a plate of clay and marked
it with fruits
It seemed so simple and we were all at play
But your plate in life is full in deed
And you would have it graced with gold
Every day at work in your cafŽ you carry platters
Serving thousandsÑyou work to live
But work is deeper than we conceive
This plate this platter this holy grail you serve
We women are the vessels and we pour out our love
We arrange it for the delectation of our beloveds
The children of our wombs unto the end of time
When from abroad came a stranger
Who nearly speaks another tongue
But you are patient and do offer her
The gift of love that comes with an open heart
For she is but a passer-by who's lost her spindle
And left her besom(1) in some distant land
By day she spins her wordloom to fox the wolf
Whilst at night she dreams midwifery,
Of passageways into the heartland
Where monsters and miracles are born and die
Where the real battles are fought and won
O lady of the grail you did mistake
me
For another whose face I do not know
When you see me now I see you see me
You have understood why I have come
To sit amongst the ladies of the court
To tell stories and to mumble of my mission
You walk in grace all unknowing of your wisdom
Your smile lets me see into your golden heart
The red cross knight is surely near you
To protect you from all ill and dark despair
This is the least that he must do to serve you
The time will pass and we will leave
you
Passing into other lands to other pilgrim tasks
But you will stay to pass the grail and heal the hurt
You will do as you have been guided to
There is a learning passing through you now
That comes from pain and labor at the cost of life
It will pass and you will mend you and carry on
You will fill the empty platter and serve the plate
You are all women who serve and carry on
You break my heart but you mend it too
O lady of the grail may life honour you
1 A Ôbesom' is an old Somerset broom made of willow. I left mine in a friend's care but it was recently brought over to me by an Angel; women and brooms is a fascinating study; female witches' associations with brooms is based on the need of good housewives to cleanse their homes of unwanted dirt and critters
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