seem so very seductive but I wonder if they would be so very different. The problem we have is the synthesis between patriarchy and commercialisation and commodification - the mix with matriarchy might not be so very different - if the overwhelming function remains the aggregation of money and power. I hesitate to think what a powerful matriarch would be in that situation.
I love the matriarchy of elephants and the idea they talk as they walk and they walk at the pace of the smallest walker.
perhaps that is the fundamental difference between patriarchal and matriarchal leadership.
the patriarch will achieve a set objective and will count and mourn the cost but consider it the price that has to be paid. the matriarch will consider the objective and will ensure everybody gets there.
When my sister died I wrote this poem. It was for her death and mine.
Song for the Triple Goddess
Death, when
you come for me
I'll be waiting.
My sons have taken the cloth from
my loom, folded it neatly
and put it in the basket I wove last
fall.
My favourite skirts,
folded in the other, are scented with
the bay leaves I collected.
My grandson has gifted me
the stick he hasn't finished carving.
It's beauty lies
within the wood still.
My daughters have washed my skin,
perfumed and plaited my hair; flowers tucked in my braid
remind me
winter is still not
quite here.
Death, we can sit awhile and drink together.
There is a brew there in the third basket.
We made it this summer.
Visions and pathways.
I am not lost.
In my hand I have the flower
I gave my love
when, as children,
we looked into each other
and saw who we were
and were to be.
he kept it.
I leave him the laughter and tears
of our life.
__Please don't overlook, I expect you've not,
ReplyDeletethough they can never become matriarchs, men can also share some of those 'mothering traits'... and without shame. I, too, walked no faster than my children, nor (now) my grandaughter the li'l rascal that she is.
__Kathleen and Micheal Gear (Anthropologists) have written a series of fact-based novels about American Natives, and many of those clans were matriarch societies. I find their books compelling. Their several titles begin with "The People of 'XXXXX'," you may be interested.
__I like this collage, and your poem is a fine collage as well! _m
I agree with you - completely. We are an amalgamation of our fe/male aspects - each a different point on a continuum from female to male.
ReplyDeleteIt is in my nature to be martial as well as to nurture!
you remind me of another haiku to post!
Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments sir!