My Daughters

Griselda Steiner

(Lyric poem for THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
from the musical "HYPATIA".)

My daughters
Naked angels
Led to slaughter

My sweet girls
Flowering
In a cruel, cruel world

Oh come to me
You starving souls
I kiss your face
Your eyes so old

In the deserts
I see you toil
In the jungles
Your small hands bleed

In the mountains
Burdens shape your back
In the rivers
Your feet are soiled

My daughters
Naked angels
Led to slaughter

My sweet girls
Flowering
In a cruel, cruel world

When you begin to bleed
They will cover your face – disgrace
While your family sleeps
Woman - alone you weep

They will cut the pleasure from your loins
The cord - you won't inherit the world

While your brother
Grows to rule
Your poor strict world
Your life bequeaths the dust

When you marry
Will you be his
Only wife
A lonely wife

Your children
Will you hold them
Safely in your arms

I will hold your hands
Tear off the wedding band

I give you my voice and
The wind to dry your tears

Will you now follow
The burnt out gods in the rain
Or my love on a
Rainbow to the sun

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