WEAVE AND MEND

(adapted by Mary Troup
from a poem by Ann Cameron)

Old Woman is watching, 
  watching over you;
In the darkness of the storm 
  she is watching;
She is weaving, mending, 
  gathering the fragments;
She is watching over you-

	So weave and mend, 
	  weave and mend,
	gather the fragments, 
	  safe within the sacred circle, 
	sisters, weave and mend, 
	  weave and mend,
	Old Woman, weave and mend.

Old Woman is weaving, 
  gathering the threads;
Her bones become the loom, 
  she is weaving;
She is watching, weaving, 
  gathering the colors;
She is watching over you.

	So weave and mend, ...

For years I've been watching, 
  waiting for Old Woman,
Feeling lost and so alone, 
  I've been watching,
Now I find her weaving; 
  gathering the colors,
Now I find her in myself.

	So weave and mend, ...

recording: Frances Black, The Black Family (2006) with comment by Mary Troup, song adapter [YouTube]

recording: MotherTongue (1994) [YouTube]

source: "The Face of Old Woman", poem by Anne Cameron from Daughters of Copper Women (1981) [Sally Hobson]

notes: song discussion [Mudcat Cafe]