Two Value Systems / One Body
an old chart, carried forward
my sister calls late
with rain caught in her voice
and something wicked
even the dead lean closer
when we begin to laugh
My sisters and I keep these hours. How could we not? Anything pushed out of balance eventually comes knocking after midnight~ the elder sent outside the circle, the child taught silence, the one who inherits the fire and claims the flame began in their own hands, the living earth reduced to property.
We hold council around it. Turn it in the firelight. Ask who profited from the break and who was made to carry it. This is old work: women awake together, worrying the crooked thing until it gives up its true name. Refusing to let what was made brutal call itself natural.
I have carried a version of this chart in my files since around 2005, back when pages like this passed hand to hand through copy machines. Several versions circulated, the author always unknown. The words were understood as shared knowledge, not a signed work.
The structure remained useful. Some of the language had aged~ some of what needed naming was missing entirely. Here it is, revised and expanded for 2026.
Perhaps it will be useful.
Keep it, question it, teach from it, pass it along. Or not- Or let it remain here. A complete four-page PDF is available below for anyone who wants a copy.
One of my all time favorite songs…
I hold this, gentle and sure. Thank you.
Thank you