I learned this in jail..don’t ask. I loved it though, I had to memorize it in order to be admitted to the Gateway Foundation Drug Treatment Program at CCJ. I never forgot it.

We are here because there is no refuge finally from ourselves. Until a womyn confronts herself in the eyes and hearts of others, she is running. Until she suffers them to share her secrets she has no safety from them. Afraid to know and be known she is struggling in the dark. Where else but in our common ground can we find such a mirror? Where here, at last, a womyn can appear clearly to herself- Not as the giant of her dreams Nor the dwarf of her fears – As a womyn a part of a whole and in this ground we each take root and grow. Not alone anymore as in death but alive to ourselves and to others. Shake a hand Make a friend.

That’s it. That’s all I had to say and they let me in.