evolving identity

NEW WOMAN – ME!  no 8

I was
the wife of my husband
the mother of my children
more I could not be
I was a woman

I was
resigned to my condition
to my unused talent
more was not asked of me
I was a woman

but I am
one human being among other human beings
I have my own task
I can do so much as a human being
as a woman

yes I was
as God’s image a mother
a beloved partner and friend —
now a new woman has grown from my old self

 

© Tina van Lieshout
translation John Wijngaards

MEDITATIONS

desert journey three selves in me me broken in pieces male and female my choice irrepressible thrust the money dragon and the religion dragon evolving identity women carry the church

the force of time I accuse women I accuse men my inner struggle past present future my dream and God saw that it was very good phallus worship on the way

Tina van Lieshout was a Dutch Catholic woman who felt called to the priesthood. Her diocese refused her admission to the priestly formation programme which she challenged in high-profile court cases. She lost. Being both a gifted artist and poet, she described her despair in a series of paintings and meditations. But she also expressed through them her determination to realise her potential as a free and equal person.  Her work was published in the Dutch book Ook in de Naam van de Moeder en de Dochter [= ‘Also in the Name of the Mother and the Daughter’], Wilco, Amersfoort 2000. She died in 2010.