This poem by Durham writer Carol Lautier was read at a commemorative event for the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
(Wade in the water, Wade in the water children, Wade in the water, God’s gonna trouble the water … )
In all our glory come we now to the river
We come
Women
all down to the river to be baptized by our own hands
Turning from dangers seen and unseen
We make baskets of our arms,
Carry the preacher woman weak with palsy
Who roars when Spirit descends
As she prays we tell our troubles to the wind
Send up Judah! Praises! Then hum low–joyfully–like seraphim
We sing Hosanna!
Dancing round about each other
Arms entwined, legs steppin’ high, our long skirts flapping
Heralding the redemption to come
We run down the bank of the river
We run singing to the great giver of life
Washing our brown bodies,
Anointing each other
To be warrior and wife of every sacred thing on earth
Protectors of joy and peace,
teachers of unrehearsed acts of kindness
As that lame preacher woman steadies herself in the circle of us
We plant our feet on the river bottom
Fill our fingers with the black cotton of each other’s hair
Staring into the dark waters of our sister’s eyes
We dip once, twice, three times we rise up clapping our hands and shouting
Till that same preacher woman comes strutting
Out from the river
Dancing with one hand on her hip
She reminds us
Of our glory,
Of how we survived burial in a ship’s belly
And generations of oppression
To stand and tell our story today
We say amen and celebrate with
Confessions of our pain and our power
We press our hands to each other’s cheeks
We speak healing
as words of blessing flow out from the river
As we go boldly out from the river
We say, “Sister, remember your glory!”
I say, “Sister! Remember your glory!”
Copyright Carol Lautier 2002