At Last I Grew Wings by Lauren Raine

Mask by Lauren Raine, from The "Masks of the Goddess" Project*

We were innocent then.

Just little monkeys, wandering

a newly risen world,

empty waters and warm sun.

He and I, I and him, one being really,

in two bodies, rolling together

in the sweet and simple mud.

Before the words,

and shapes and endless dividing of things. 

Naming and breaking, each piece

smaller and harder

denser and slower.

And colder.

You see, I grew enraptured

by the ferocity of world -

Her vast generosity, her spiral mysteries.

Stars reflected in dark tidepools,

vines that curled tendrils

around the curious finger,

hyacinth and hyena

calling across the night

But Adam wanted to control the uncontrollable:

I was his first attempt.

The more he tried to seize me

the more I hungered for the moon

So at last I grew wings,

and flew away

Not for any price.....not for Eden

or bread or any ease

would I be anything less

than what I am.

 

An excerpt from the upcoming Girl God Anthology, Original Resistance: Reclaiming Lilith, Reclaiming Ourselves.

*About The "Masks of the Goddess" Project by Lauren Raine

"Myth comes alive as it enters the cauldron of evolution, drawing new life from storytellers who shape it." -Elizabeth Fuller, the Independent Eye Theatre

I’ve always seen masks as "vessels for our stories." When I went to Bali to study mask arts I was privileged to produce collaborative masks with Balinese mask makers while there, and I returned inspired by their traditions of sacred Temple masks. In 1999 I was commissioned to create 30 multi-cultural masks of worldwide Goddesses. As I researched feminine mythologies for the "Masks of the Goddess" collection, I found myself in a grand conversation that grew as dancers, storytellers, psychologists and theologians used the masks, bringing new meaning to a universal heritage of archetypal sacred stories. The Collection travelled throughout the U.S. with many different communities and individuals for over 20 years, and is the subject of a book. In 2019 the Project is formally being closed with an exhibit of the Collection at Arise Gallery in San Francisco, from May 5th to July 28th. For more information about the Masks of the Goddess Project, please visit the website: www.masksofthegoddess.com.