In the days when women’s options were few
the women I saw around me, women I knew,
found ways to become the best they could be
within the confines of misogyny.
Lucky was I to be taught by nuns,
a sisterhood which withstood Middle-Ages threats
by joining nunneries behind gates barring men.
Within such walls great minds could form
great thoughts, with freedom and creativity.
These women persisted as they resisted
the control of such men as abbots and bishops.
These women persisted as women do now
by standing up straight and taking a vow
to stay true to themselves and not be defeated
by ridiculous removal from tables seated
only by men, for men, with men who concluded
false beliefs in women’s abilities which shone
a light often greater than their own.
Nuns are not fools, far from it. From them I learned
that this is a man’s world, but a woman’s heaven.
Women who saw heaven on earth as a real possibility.
Today, nuns’ ranks are fewer as more opportunity
is open to women, who still must bring
their own chairs to the table where men are sitting.
Now, women are building their own tables
and invite men to sit there, too, no threat intended.
But insecure men unable to share power labels
fear their days of sole control are now mere fable.
Sisterhoods have expanded beyond Abbey walls.
All over the earth women now stand tall and state their vows.
The vows they share expand geography and history.
Women have come a “long way, baby”.
We are the nuns. The nuns are us.
annarino writes 