A Woman Clothed in Words (6 page)

Psalm of Praise
Prairie Winds
for voices A and B (originally, Anne and Bob).

A
–
O prairie winds blow, blow,

B – Praising the name of God.

•

A – O blow, blow across the wide prairie

B – Praising the name of God.

•

A – O prairie grass grow, grow,

B – Grow in the name of God.

•

A – O prairie grass bend in the wind,

B – Praising the name of God.

•

A – O creeks and rivers flow, flow,

B – Flow in the name of God.

•

A – O praise! praise! prairie rain,

B – Falling in the name of God.

•

A – O prairie storm thunder, thunder

Thunder the praise of God.

•

B – O lightning, lightning blaze in the sky,

A – Flashing in the name of God.

B – Dust and clouds, water and wind,

Praising the name of God.

•

A – O prairie fire burn, burn,

Run across the wide prairie

•

B – Run, run, burn, burn,

Burn in the name of God.

•

A – O deer and fox,

Bear and hare,

Run from the smoke,

Run from the fire,

•

B – Run in the name of God.

•

A – Run to the water,

Run to the slough,

Running before the fire.

•

B – O winter snow

Quench the fire,

Quench in the name of God.

Litany

Job
12: 7–9 (adapted)

A – Go ask the cattle,

ask the birds of the air to teach you,

or tell the creatures that crawl to teach you,

and the fishes of the sea to give you instruction.

Who cannot learn from all these

that the Lord’s own hand has done this?

•

B – Who cannot learn from all these?

•

A – We praise you in the morning with the coyote

who rises early and disputes with the sun

who pounces upon the mouse and the snake

and carries her prey to her pups in the den,

just as you, O God, feed us with your holy word.

•

B – Just as you, O God, feed us with your holy word.

•

A – We praise you with the fox

who stands on the slope of the hill,

watching the prairie

to sniff out his prey.

Just as you, O God, sniff us out,

sight us while we are yet far off.

•

B – While we are yet far off.

•

A – We praise you O God with the gentle deer,

whose hooves are dainty on the grass

who nibbles all winter upon poplar twigs,

and in the spring drops her young in the bushes.

She flees before us as a tumbleweed from the wind,

just as we, O God, must flee before your anger.

•

B – Just as we, O God, must flee before your anger.

•

A – And with the owl let us praise God,

for like us she is blind to the sun.

But all night she flies calling in the darkness

As we, O God, cry to you.

•

B – As we, O God, cry to you.

•

A – And we praise you with the antelope

whose leap is like a spring of water,

who bounds over the barrier to the herd.

Just as you, O God, leap over the fence

of our ignorance, and come to dwell among us.

•

B – O God leap, leap over the fence of our ignorance,

and come to dwell among us.

Litany of Blessing

A – May terrors shink to harmless toys

With tyrants fenced like little boys.

Pinstriped suits and judges’ gowns

Only worn by circus clowns.

•

B – May justice and mercy kiss.

•

A – May boardrooms be pool halls

With pinstripes for cues

And bankers for balls.

Missiles not missed,

Generals kissed

Goodbye,

Presidents fired

And at last knowing why.

•

B – May justice and mercy kiss.

•

A – May the animal nations

Of eagle and bear

Lose feather and fur

Claw and tearing beak,

Learn shame,

Learn meekness again.

•

B – May justice and mercy kiss.

•

A – May war be a memory

And prisoners run free,

Preachers dancing,

Prophets playing,

Martyrs without call.

•

B – May justice and mercy kiss.

•

A – May babes brown and white

Milk-mouthed be happy

As calves tickled by thistles,

Licking honey from the sun,

Licking honey from the sun.

•

A & B – Justice and mercy shall kiss

Amen and Amen and Amen.

Litany of the Bagladies

(words for a dance piece)

BAGGY BAGLADY

SKINNY BAGLADY

BB
–
It’s the legs mostly. Legs tired all the time. You keep walking, walking, carrying your stuff. Dragging everything along with you. When you sleep you sleep sitting up. That’s the hardest thing on the legs. The hardest thing.

SB – I’ll be at the train station, sitting on a bench with a hand on each of my bags, and I’ll be thinking how did you get into this mess, Dolly? How did it come about?

BB – It’s the legs mostly …

SB – This is certainly not what I expected of myself. Not at all what I could have expected.

BB – These sores on me legs. I’ve had ’em a long time now. Six months, a year, two years mebbe. Every so often I take a busride down to the hospital, get ’em fixed up a bit.
Try to keep off your feet Mrs. Adams.
Snarky bitch.

SB – How did I get into this mess anyway?

BB – That’s a laugh isn’t it? (laughs bitterly) You just nicely gets snoozing on a bench and a cop moves you on. (laughs again) Moving on. Legs aching. Trying to find a place to sleep. Something to eat. A bathroom where you can wash up, change y’clothes. Comb y’hair a bit.

SB – I’m a mess. I should go down to McDonald’s or maybe out to the U of S. They have decent washrooms there. Always tidy and clean. I should get my hair done too. It’s a mess.

BB – Get something to eat. Mebbe I’ll ask for a doughnut, cuppa coffee. Sometimes they’ll give you something.

SB – You know I used to read a lot. Philosophy, social comment, politics. Yes I was very interested in politics … Now when I go to the library it’s because it’s warm in there. And the chairs are so comfortable, and padded. Like heaven after these hard benches. Mmm hmm Mmm hmm …

BB – Walking, walking, trying to get a bit of a snooze. Walking. Walking. Walking. (coughs)

CHANT

Saint Brenda defend us

Saint Brenda defend us

Jeanne d’Arc fight for us

Saint Emmeline Pankhurst struggle for us

Show forth our anger

•

Saint Brenda defend us

Saint Brenda defend us

Jeanne d’Arc fight for us

Saint Emmeline Pankhurst struggle for us

Show forth our anger

SPEAK

Holy saints alive

Be there when we arrive

Holy saints alive

•

Saint Barbara falling from your tower

Understand our despair our despair

We ask you Saint Clare

Show us your poverty

Enclose us keep us to ourselves

Holy saints listen to our mumbling

Listen to our prayer

Forgive us forgive us our sainthood

CHANT

We ask you Saint Clare

Enclose us keep us to ourselves

Holy saints listen to our mumblings

Listen to our prayers

Forgive us our sainthood

•

Catherine Labouré increase our vision

Saint Teresa give us holy insight

Give us holy love holy love

SPEAK

For we have abandoned our children

We have abandoned our parents

We have abandoned our mates

Holy saints forgive us our sainthood

CHANT

We have abandoned our children

We have abandoned our parents

We have abandoned our mates

Holy saints forgive us our sainthood

SPEAK

Sara patron of all nomads

Be with us be with us be with us

For we have relinquished the world

We are pilgrims

We are wanderers

W a n d e r e r s

Sara patron of all nomads

Pray for us

Pray for us homeless

Pray for us nameless

Always departing

Never arriving

CHANT

Pray for us always departing departing departing

Never arriving

Pray for us going on our way

From day to day

From nowhere to nowhere

Going on our way

Dame Julian of Norwich

Enlighten us

Saint Ursula teach us

Saint Eleanor Roosevelt

Show forth our patience

Show forth our dignity

SPEAK

Saint Judy Chicago

Show us our possibilities

Holy ones forgive us

Forgive us our sainthood

RHYTHMIC SPEECH

Woman woman

Eccentric woman

Feral woman

F e r a l woman

Woman

•

Decrepit woman

Decrepit woman

Decrepit woman

Without home

Without house

Without cage

Without fortress

Without bars

•

Woman eccentric feral decrepit

Without home

Without cage

Without fortress

Without bars

•

Do what you will

Not caring

Not crying

Not wailing

Do what you will

•

Trudging trudging

No bar no burden

She bears herself

Alone she travels

From nowhere to nowhere

Alone alone alone

•

Woman woman

Eccentric woman

Feral decrepit

Without home

Without house

Trudging trudging

No bar no burden

She bears herself

Alone she travels

From nowhere to nowhere

Alone alone alone

GENTLER VOICE

The foxes have holes

The birds have nests

The saint has nowhere to lay her head

Nowhere to rest

Pilgrim she wanders

From street

To street

In a fusty skirt