". . . this howl of ages" – today's  poem: "Subterranean Rage" by Mary Saracino.

SUBTERRANEAN RAGE

by Mary Saracino

Deeper than bone

deeper than muscle or sinew

or tenacious tendon

this howl of ages

rivers through bloodlines, ancient as oceans

salty as the primeval seas

this is what happens to women who

out-step their bounds

dare to be bold, brazen

speak up, name the subterfuge

women who grit their warriors’ teeth

fight on, for their children

their lovers, their nation

their homes, their hearts’ desires

branded as heretics: witch, bitch, cunt, whore

they race through forests and fields

trying to outrun the acrid scent of their own sweat

running from the hellish hounds

the priestly proclamations

the wrenching bite of the strappado*

running for their lives

caught between sinner or saint

rarely allowed sovereignty over Self

over mind & womb, over laws meant to undo them

Thousands of strangled cats launched the Plague

tender necks swinging from tree limbs

flaccid, cold paws an omen: the rats will have their day

Crucibles of change, cauldrons

of sorrow, voices stymied for eons by the threat of extinction

womb-wisdom silenced by public outcry

burned at the stake of cultural conditioning

the subterranean outrage

seeps out, sharp as knives

sharp as memory

sharp as justice denied

sharp as the bloodied knives

eviscerating their midnight powers

Deep is this grief

Deep this anger

A dirge of rage lost to the winds of time.

The weeping memory wails, still.

Hear it the moonless night sky,

touch it in the hot light of noon

smell it in the poisoned soil

taste it on your remembering tongue

see it in the burning irises

that bear witness to this unyielding genocide.

*Strappado is a form of torture, employed by the Inquisitional tribunals against women accused of witchcraft. Victims were suspended in the air by means of a rope attached to their hands which were tied behind their backs, causing their arms to be dislocated.

* * * * *

“Subterranean Rage” was originally published on newversenews.com on May 23, 2008; it was reprinted at: https://magoism.net/2013/10/30/poem-subterranean-rage-by-mary-saracino/

Mary Saracino is a novelist, poet, and memoir-writer who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her most recent novel, Heretics: A Love Story, was published in 2014 by Pearlsong Press. She Is Everywhere! Volume 3, the anthology she co-edited with Mary Beth Moser, was awarded the 2013 Enheduanna Award for Excellence in Women-Centered Literature from Sofia University, Palo Alto, CA. Mary’s novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006) was a 2007 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist. Her short story, "Vicky's Secret" earned the 2007 Glass Woman Prize. www.marysaracino.com