If I called myself a healer,
would you be afraid of me?
If I steeped an herbal tea
to sooth a throat that's sore,
or for a toe stubbed on the door
made a poultice for the swelling?
Should I not keep dried roots and herbs inside my dwelling?
So I prefer natural remedies
to lab-concocted chemistries;
relaxing scents and mellow tones
that bring relief to tired bones--
do you fear a person with the goal
to heal the body, mind and soul?
If I called myself a nature-lover,
would you think me strange?
If I enjoyed a camp-out on the range,
and marveled at the wild wolf's cry,
and star-filled nights evoked a sigh,
and I thought the budding bloom delightful?
Should I clutter up the Earth with litter and not recycle?
So, with revelry I do
herald in the seasons new,
and creatures of land and sea respect
and feel obligated to help protect--
do you think a person so insane
when they observe the Moon wax and wane?
If I called myself a student,
would you have me harmed?
If with only a library card I was armed,
and I learned the myths of old
and the greatest stories ever told,
and pondered the human mind?
Should I not educate myself if the chance I find?
So I seek knowledge in books,
in professors, mechanics, short-order cooks,
the rain, the sun, the stars, the flowers--
I can learn by watching animals for hours--
do you perceive me as a threat
because my thirst for knowledge cannot be wet?
If I called myself a humanist,
would you laugh at me?
If I fought for equality
between the sexes and the races,
and spoke against prejudices
and against hypocrisy?
Should I not help make the world for challenged people barrier- free?
So I don't tell people who to love
or what they should be dreaming of,
or judge one by the color of skin,
but by the integrity within--
do you think it such a joke to say
equal work should bring equal pay?
If I called myself a believer,
would you say I was malevolent?
If I accepted a Creator so magnificent
with all my heart and soul,
and strove to better know
the Great Spirit who created me?
Should I limit something as infinite and omnipresent as Divinity?
So I don't question my Creator
because someone else's book sold greater,
or say, one's spiritual quest,
if not the same as mine, is a jest--
do you really think its evil
not to believe in your devil?
So when I call myself a Witch,
why do you snicker or sneer?
Why cross yourselves in fear,
or presume I've yet to hear
of rituals that better suit you?
Should I not be true to who I am because someone misunderstands what I do?
For a Witch is simply a healer,
a nature-lover, humanist, believer,
student-- and she has to wonder
how anyone can see other.
She often thinks its so absurd
that people can't get past that word.
A Witch by any other name
is still a Witch just the same.
