Rebel Girls by Leila Castle

(Cover engraving by the author)

SACRIFICE

Breasts full

nipples hard

I dream of milk spraying

from them last night

I want to go to the

Grandmothers

with this one

the circle of

Grandmothers

with their wise

lined faces and bellies

that have known

birth and death

the Grandmothers

who have known

love and sorrow

I come to you

Make me wise

Share your wisdom

with me now

Take me to the island

of priestesses

Strip me naked.

HUMMINGBIRD

The tiny feathered being

in my hands

the tiny feathered being

so soft the iridescent feathers shining

I want to offer it

to offer it with prayers

its joyous spirit

soft in my hands as I walk to the stupa

to Rinpoche wearing a cowboy hat

when I realize

to offer this

soft-feathered nectar loving being

is to offer liberation to all beings

as the hummingbird flies

tweetering into the sky over the stupa

I’m laughing