Somewhere Between Male and Female
Somewhere between male and female
The soul gets lost
Where are you calls the mother of the soul
But the soul never had a mother
Get back here this instant the father demands
But somewhere between male and female
The soul failed to be fathered
Male and female
Split at the seams
Leaving the soul naked
Criss-crossed with scars
Male scars and female scars
Breast scars and testicle scars
Scars like doors
And scars like fingers
Fingers point at the naked soul
Doors slam in its face
No
The soul is still alone
It is is only dreaming
It’s been discovered
In the space between male and female
Where no one will ever find it
”Somewhere Between Male and Female” from Transmigration by Joy Ladin. Copyright © 2009 by Joy Ladin. Used with permission of the publisher, The Sheep Meadow Press.
Listen to Joy Ladin’s On Being interview, “Finding a Home in Yourself.”