Among the Goddesses

Title Page, Other Works by the Author, Copyright, Acknowledgments

Among the Goddesses By the Same Author Poetry Spells Such Husks Calendars The Complete Poetry of Louise Labé (Translation) Eve The Encyclopedia of Scotland Prose A Poet’s Ear A Poet’s Craft The Body of Poetry The Ghost of Meter Editor Multiformalisms Lofty Dogmas: Poets on Poetry An Exaltation of Forms Perspectives on Carolyn Kizer After New Formalism A Formal Feeling Comes Among the Goddesses An Epic Libretto in Seven Dreams Annie Finch Red Hen Press | Pasadena, CA Among the Goddesses: An Epic Libretto in Seven Dreams Copyright © 2010 by Annie Finch All rights reserved No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner. Book layout by Sydney Nichols Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Finch, Annie, 1956– Among the goddesses : an epic libretto in seven dreams / Annie Finch. — 1st ed. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-59709-161-9 I. Title. PS3556.I448A8 2010 813’.54—dc22 2010007836 The Annenberg Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts partially support Red Hen Press. First Edition Published by Red Hen Press Pasadena, CA www.redhen.org Acknowledgements Dedicated to my teachers and healers, more than can be named here, with gratitude for keeping me inspired and spiralling during this book’s 17year birth: Paula Gunn Allen, Annegret Baier, Cathleen Bailey, Jennifer Barrett, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Lisa Bowie, Glen Brand, Julian Brand, Z. Budapest, Jeanne Cameron, Janine Canan, Carol Christ, Jane Clow, Francesca de Grandis, Jack Fertig, Chas Finch, Dabney Finch, Henry L. Finch, Julie Finch, Margaret Rockwell Finch, Marta Rijn Finch, Roy Finch, Althea Finch-Brand, Marija Gimbutas, Andrea Goodman, Judy Grahn, Joy Harjo, Lynn Hueffed, Denise Jasmine, Michelle Jean, Cait Johnson, Betz King, Susie Landau, Gretchen Lawlor, Jennifer Lunden, Jean Liedloff, Erica Linen, Laurie McCammon, Sharon McErland, Patricia Monaghan, Pat Mora, Ajit Mookerjee, D.G. Nanouk Okpik, Oloye Aina Olomo, Jan Perkins, Abby Power, Marjorie Hughan Rockwell, Sonia Sanchez, Robert Schoenbrun, Ntozake Shange, Eileen Showalter, Lisa Siders, Starhawk, Suzanne Stevens, Merlin Stone, Kristina Sturiano, Kathleen Sweeney, Deborah Knighton Tallerico, Fred Tietjen, Marie Truscott, Turtle Woman, Anne Waldman, Alice Walker, Barbara Walker, Susun Weed, Sharon Wilke, and Alice Woodman. Special thanks to Deborah Drattell for insightful suggestions about the libretto, and to Margot Adler for a comment that sparked the idea of interweaving the two versions. Gratitude to Kate Gale for loving the manuscript, Mark Cull for his design brilliance and patience, and all the good people at Red Hen Press for their care in making this book. Books 6–8 of “Marie Moving,” as well as part of the preface under the title “Writing Marie Moving,” were published in slightly different form in Thirteenth Moon, Spring 2001. A section of Book 8, “Kali,” appeared in Rattapallax, Spring 2007. This page intentionally left blank. ...