COUNCILS

Woman We must sit down

                          and reason together.

We must sit down.

Men standing want to hold forth.

They rain down upon faces lifted.

Man We must sit down on the floor

on the earth

on stones and mats and blankets.

There must e no front to the speaking

no platform, no rostrum,

no stage or table.

We will not crane

            to see who is speaking.

Woman Perhaps we should sit in the dark,

In the dark we could utter our feelings.

In the dark we could propose

and describe and suggest.

Man In the dark we could not see who speaks

and only the words

would say what they say.

Woman Thus saying what we feel and what we want,

what we fear for ourselves and each other

into the dark, perhaps we could begin 

to begin to listen.

Man Perhaps we should talk in groups

small enough for everyone to speak.

Woman             Perhaps we should start by speaking softly.

The women must learn to dare to speak.

Man The men must bother to listen.

Woman             The women must learn to say, I think this is so.

Man The men must learn to stop dancing solos on the ceiling.

After each speaks, she or he,

will repeat a ritual phrase:

Woman It is not I who speaks but the wind.

and Wind blows through me.

Man Long after me, is the wind.

Marge Piercy