Marta married an American soldier
in the front lines of her liberation
from Nazis who invaded her city
where her father’s butcher shop
did business selling cuts of meat
from the cattle raised on their farm
outside the city, somewhat removed
from the war which rounded up neighbors,
Jews, whose shops also served Dutch
neighbors who labored by their sides.
As German soldiers arrived under Nazi flags
These Dutch, Jew and non-Jew, stayed silent
coming out from their shops to watch them march by.
Soon, rumors were heard that non-Jewish shopkeepers
were considering turning Jews in by-and-by
to save and serve their own interests.
Marta’s father knew better. He knew the lie
they told themselves that such hate
could pass them all by, by cooperating.
In the morning the Jewish shops were shuttered.
The Jews had been warned and fled
to no one knew where. On a wing and a prayer
they followed twelve year old Marta
to the family farm where they hid in the barn,
protected and fed, and where they could safely hide.
The Nazis came and took their cattle, their chickens,
but did not find the Jews who were kept hidden,
kept alive. Marta’s family stayed silent, too.
Not to save themselves, nor appease their enemy;
but to save their Jewish neighbors and their own pride.
Years fell away with wizened flesh that kept them alive.
When the food was gone into Nazi bellies
she ate grass soup, and chewed leather hide
from her shoes, made into stews. It kept them alive.
By the time American soldiers took over her town
Marta was an emaciated bag of skin and bone.
She married the soldier who fed her his rations
and gave her rebirth of heart. She had kept her soul.
She had saved the Jews and her love of humanity.
But her sanity sat heavily on thin shoulders
no longer able to stem tears nor fears.
She heard those marching feet and shouts of “Heil !”
In forever dreams she relived the living hell
she and her Jewish neighbors survived.
annarino writes 
There is No War on Women,by Louise Annarino,1-25-2014
There is No War on Women,By Louise Annarino
There is no war on women. What we are watching play out is an age-old phenomenon of men who fear women’s sexual expression. Whether it is the Taliban, fundamentalist Muslims-Jews-Christians,or Mike Huckabee, the chastisement and need to control women springs from men’s fear of loss of their own control. I refuse to allow their fear to become my burden. I suggest they learn to handle it all, as I must handle my own fears. Their fear, their loss of control, is not my problem; but, they insist on making it so. I don’t call that a war. I call it fear mongering.
We use the word war too loosely. We enjoy hyperbole because it grabs our attention,holds our imagination, and allows us to believe we are heroes(another word used too loosely)fighting some grand battle. Anyone who has ever experienced war is insulted by this cavalier use of the word. Anyone who have ever acted heroically is appalled by its frequent use in today’s lexicon. As William Tecumseh Sherman who marched on Atlanta destroying all in his wake said in his address to the Michigan Military Academy in June 19, 1879, “You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, war is Hell!” (Battle Creek Enquirer and News,Nov.18,1933). I cannot use the word “war” to describe anything but war. Fear is not war; and, unless we name what is happening correctly, we cannot address the problem we face correctly.
This fear of male loss of control when faced with female sexual expression has biological roots. http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/how-male-female-brains-differ Men’s brains are structured with less ability to maintain rational thought while in the throes of emotion. Of course they fear women whose brains allow them to cry,laugh,orgasm and think at the same time. Whom should we blame for this? The Hebrews tell a story of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. Most of us have at least heard that story a time or two. There are two elements to that story: obedience to the male deity transferred to obedience to the first male, Adam. Who was to be obedient to these male prototypes? The woman. What do fig leaves have to do with the story? They are used to cover up human sexual expression, and thus control sexual expression which becomes sinful when the woman does not obey the man. That is what is going on today!
The Hebrews were not the first to tell such a story. Earlier cultures and religious traditions acknowledged the power of female sexuality; some accepted it and used it as an avenue to spiritual awakening a la the Vestal Virgins. Others fearfully suppressed it, a la female genital mutilation. We see vestiges of these practices today throughout our world. It is not only Mike Huckabee and Republican men who fear women. Democrats,Libertarians,Independents and a host of other men do, too. The men who do not fear women are able to trust and appreciate women, able to understand the biology of male/female differences without feeling inferior, and able to see diversity as an enriching experience,not one to be feared. There is that word “diversity” which too many of us fear. Such men exist within all political parties and religions.
Although I do not see such fear of women as merely a Republican issue, one must acknowledge that the Republican Party platforms have opposed Affirmative Action,our ONE effort to practice diversity; while the Democratic Party platform has embraced diversity.The Republican Party platform opposes women’s right to birth control and abortion,to freely manage her health needs to freely express her body’s sexuality; while the Democratic Party has embraced a woman’s right to choose how she uses her body sexually and how to protect her health. We cannot ignore that these two party positions are different, even though men are the same biological creatures, dealing with the same fears in both parties.
As a woman,I am not satisfied with the behavior of men in either party. It is not enough to add women to the mix, when the men make all the final decisions, and too often ignore and disparage our female voices. When women’s only strength comes from a separate women’s caucus, whose leaders are the strongest and wisest and most experienced political activists I know, rather than being hired into positions of political power we know we still have a long way to go. We may have “come a long way baby”,finally being allowed to participate in the race; but, the race officials-funders-judges are still men who too often control our political expression. The words men use to describe their view of women is not the problem. Their fear of women’s full and free use of her power is the problem. Huckabee apologists are busy trying to reframe how to control women as if male manners need fixed. Instead, they should focus on facing their own fears and finding their courage in the face of female power and sexuality.
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