Bits of Yarn, Calico and Velvet Scraps                                                            Page 12

For almost two thousand years I lived inside this

story. All the heroes were men: leaders, priests,

prophets, law-givers, the holders of the keys to life.

Of course, I had forgotten a good deal. Two

thousand years is too short a time. There was more.

My memory played me false. My freedom-loving

forebears were kept to a separate compartment. I

had a great many 'compartments', arranged in a

variety of dualistic styles. They were neat, secure

and quite pleasant to live in. But I had forgotten

that I was not always a slave.

There was a time when you were not a slave,

remember that. You walked alone, full of

laughter, you bathed bare-bellied. You say you

have lost all recollection of it, remember... You

say there are not words to describe it, you say

it does not exist. But remember. Make an effort

to remember. Or, failing that, invent.

Monique Wittig