For all those who died- br stripped naked, shaved, shorn. br br For all those who screamed br in vain to the Great Goddess br only to have their tongues br ripped out at the root. br br For all those who were pricked, racked, broken on the wheel br for the sins of their Inquisitors. br br For all those whose beauty br stirred their torturers to fury; br & for all those whose ugliness did the same. br br For all those who were neither ugly nor beautiful, br but only women who would not submit. br br For all those quick fingers br broken in the vise. br br For all those soft arms br pulled from their sockets. br br For all those budding breasts br ripped with hot pincers. br br For all those midwives killed merely for the sin br of delivering man br to an imperfect world. br br For all those witch-women, my sisters, br who breathed freer br as the flames took them, br br knowing as they shed br their female bodies, br the seared flesh falling like fruit br in the flames, br br that death alone would cleanse them br of the sin for which they died br br the sin of being born a woman, br who is more than the sum br of her parts.