The first lines of the Mirror revealed themselves to me after first experiencing a Mama Alto performance. I found the way that she wove song and social commentary together while still providing an intimate experience through voice and personality to be enchanting. I was bedazzled from seeing reflections of myself and the world I live within that I’d rarely acknowledged.
And so the Song became a Mirror.
The first verse and chorus came quickly but I was distracted and put it down.
When I picked up my song again some months later I was struck by the power of Voice; of those who are loud, those who are silent; of those who listen and of those who turn away.
My focus changed from the song to the singer, and the resemblance to a Goddess of my tradition we know as Weaver. The singer weaves through her voice our Wyrd, spinning us into reflections; shapes of shadows and light that dance upon the surface of her vastness as we struggle to feel, to reflect, to understand.
The last verse came much later than the first two. It came in a rush of world events that demonstrated once again the power of voice. Students, victims of violence, who had been silenced by the powers that be finding their voice; finding power in their voice and inspiring others to stand against injustice and oppression. For it is in choosing to remain silent, to not act, that true horror comes.
And of course, it is the artist, the singer, the poet who has the tools to show society the truth hidden in plain sight.
The Mirror shows a side of us not all wish to see, but those who do and who choose embrace what they see, who become more than mere reflections, can affect such amazing feats.
Green and Grey 