This month, I'm going to break with tradition and publish not my own poem, but one by Teresa Anderson, who wrote "Kneading Bread." She and her son were gracious enough to attend a performance of my setting of her poem for chorus with piano and spoken word at "Mountain Moving Day" in 2002. We performed the piece again posthumously in 2009.
This part of the poem is an excerpt, the second half of the poem.
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
We are living. We sing and fight, and shed tears for our children.
We, the kneaders of bread,
We, the grinders of corn.
We, the sowers of wheat in the shadow of missiles.
We who survive, in the rhythm of it, my son.
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
And in the name of the woman who walks in shadows,
the woman denied shelter,
In the name of the woman forced from her homeland,
the woman who sifts ashes for revenge,
In the name of the woman who searches for food,
the woman who sees children burning,
In the name of the woman who tends ravaged fields,
the woman who gives birth in exile,
In the name of the woman who sings us to sleep,
In the name of the woman who tends the fire,
In the name of the woman whose hands bring healing,
the woman who refuses to bow down,
In the name of the woman who turns to the Mother of God,
In the name of the wound and fire of her longing,
I promise you, we will all return.
There is a rhythm to it, folding the dough over and over,
the fluid motion of the heal of your hand.
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
Teresa Anderson
from "Looking for Home: Women Writing About Exile"
See more photos by Phil Borges and learn of the work of "Stirring the Fire" around the world, a global movement toward gender equality. Stirring the Fire
Listen to a musical setting of "Kneading Bread" by Annelinde Metzner with chorus, piano and spoken word, composed and performed with permission of the author (2002) and family of (2009) Teresa Anderson.
This part of the poem is an excerpt, the second half of the poem.
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
We are living. We sing and fight, and shed tears for our children.
We, the kneaders of bread,
We, the grinders of corn.
We, the sowers of wheat in the shadow of missiles.
We who survive, in the rhythm of it, my son.
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
And in the name of the woman who walks in shadows,
the woman denied shelter,
In the name of the woman forced from her homeland,
the woman who sifts ashes for revenge,
In the name of the woman who searches for food,
the woman who sees children burning,
In the name of the woman who tends ravaged fields,
the woman who gives birth in exile,
In the name of the woman who sings us to sleep,
In the name of the woman who tends the fire,
In the name of the woman whose hands bring healing,
the woman who refuses to bow down,
In the name of the woman who turns to the Mother of God,
In the name of the wound and fire of her longing,
I promise you, we will all return.
There is a rhythm to it, folding the dough over and over,
the fluid motion of the heal of your hand.
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
Teresa Anderson
from "Looking for Home: Women Writing About Exile"
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| "Humaria," a young girl of Afghanistan. Photo by Phil Borges. |
Listen to a musical setting of "Kneading Bread" by Annelinde Metzner with chorus, piano and spoken word, composed and performed with permission of the author (2002) and family of (2009) Teresa Anderson.
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| A performance of "Kneading Bread" in 2009 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville, NC, with readers Becky Stone, Deb Scott and Nels Arnold, and with Theo Sturz kneading bread! |
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