{"id":1438,"date":"2014-07-30T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/?p=1438"},"modified":"2014-07-11T16:22:34","modified_gmt":"2014-07-11T20:22:34","slug":"the-laughter-of-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/07\/the-laughter-of-women.html","title":{"rendered":"The Laughter Of Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lisel Mueller<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The laughter of women sets fire
\nto the Halls of Injustice
\nand the false evidence burns
\nto a beautiful white lightness<\/p>\n

It rattles the Chambers of Congress
\nand forces the windows wide open
\nso the fatuous speeches can fly out<\/p>\n

The laughter of women wipes the mist
\nfrom the spectacles of the old;
\nit infects them with a happy flu
\nand they laugh as if they were young again<\/p>\n

Prisoners held in underground cells
\nimagine that they see daylight
\nwhen they remember the laughter of women<\/p>\n

It runs across water that divides,
\nand reconciles two unfriendly shores
\nlike flares that signal the news to each other<\/p>\n

What a language it is, the laughter of women,
\nhigh-flying and subversive.
\nLong before law and scripture
\nwe heard the laughter, we understood freedom.<\/p>\n

* ***
\nDonna Henes is the author of The Queen of My Self: Stepping into Sovereignty in Midlife<\/em>.<\/a> She offers counseling and upbeat, practical and ceremonial guidance for individual women and groups who want to enjoy the fruits of an enriching, influential, purposeful, passionate, and powerful maturity. Consult the MIDLIFE MIDWIFE\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n

The Queen welcomes questions concerning all issues of interest to women in their mature years. Send your inquiries to thequeenofmyself@aol.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Lisel Mueller The laughter of women sets fire to the Halls of Injustice and the false evidence burns to a beautiful white lightness It rattles the Chambers of Congress and forces the windows wide open so the fatuous speeches can fly out The laughter of women wipes the mist from the spectacles of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":218,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,10],"tags":[13,641,280,42],"class_list":["post-1438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feminism","category-humor","tag-holistic-living","tag-laughter","tag-passion","tag-powerful-women"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Laughter Of Women - The Queen of My Self<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/07\/the-laughter-of-women.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Laughter Of Women - 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