She is the Source of Life

“The Source”

by Toni Truesdale

The Imprint of the human species is female;

For women are the source of life.

In female hands is the vital essence, water;

Our fecundity and the renewal of the generations.

In ancient Egypt the ankh is the symbol of Water, Woman

 and Life,  Eternal.

T.Truesdale copyright 1998

All images and words are copyrighted

Reproduction by permission

images are available for purchase

tonitruesdale@gmail.com

Dispelling Fear of the Dark

“Illuminations”

By Toni Truesdale

Our shadows are connected symbiotically

To ourselves and to the light.

In internal battles

Linked to social roles;

We search all our lives to dispel

Carefully socially constructed fears.

As more deeply, archetypes;

Speak to us of

The most ancient of stories

We reenact mostly in dreams

That tell the truth of human history

In the symbolic language of myth.

copyright T.Truesdale 1998

No reproduction without permissions please

All images are available for purchase

Tontruesdale@gmail.com

International Womens Day 2018

Five Faces with Stars

Think, how each tiny creature

Is magically connected to all things

Here, on this blue planet;

Coexisting in this solar system

The huge universe is spinning

Around our awed and observing faces.

We are related to the stars

As are elements in creation.

Remember the fragility of

Our symbiotic relationships

To the Earth,

Planet to Sun,

Solar system to Universe...

And to give thanks for the blessing of each day.

T. Truesdale copyright 2009

All images are available in reproductions

Eve: out of Africa

Eve

Out of Africa is our beginning.

Charting the path to first woman first man

In the primordial garden is the Baobab, “Tree of life “.

Those of Judeo-Christian heritage call the first Mother, “Eve”

                           Her sisters in Creation have many other names;

For as each footfall out of our birthplace was placed,

A sacred calling left an imprint,

 Those words haunt us now

 As we search to remember the divine knowledge,

Within our DNA Passed down physically;

 One generation to the next,

Lives within us all.

copyright T. Truesdale 2018

All images are available in prints and cards

contact the artist at tonitruesdale@gmail.com

Reproduction by permission only

The Great American Artform : Spirituals

I got a robe, you got a robe
All o' God's chillun got a robe
When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my robe
I'm goin' to shout all ovah God's Heab'n
Heab'n, Heab'n
Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere
Heab'n, Heab'n
I'm goin' to shout all ovah God's Heab'n.

I got-a wings, you got-a wings
All o' God's chillun got-a wings
When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my wings
I'm goin' to fly all ovah God's Heab'n
Heab'n, Heab'n
Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere
Heab'n, Heab'n
I'm goin' to fly all ovah God's Heab'n.

I got a harp, you got a harp
All o' God's chillun got a harp
When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to take up my harp
I'm goin' to play all ovah God's Heab'n
Heab'n , Heab'n
Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere
Heab'n, Heab'n
I'm goin' to play all ovah God's Heab'n.

I got shoes, you got shoes
All o' God's chillun got shoes
When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my shoes
I'm goin' to walk all ovah God's Heab'n
Heab'n , Heab'n
Ev'rybody talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere
Heab'n, Heab'n
I'm goin' to walk all ovah God's Heab'n.

The Black Gospel song, "All God's Chillun Got Wings" is a traditional African-American spiritual song. It's author is unknown. This song is the title of a play by Eugene O'Neill.

American Saint: Harriet Tubman

Chorus:
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is a waitin'
For to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd

When the sun comes up
And the first Quail calls
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is a waitin'
For to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd

Chorus

The riverbank will make a mighty good road
The dead trees show you the way
Left foot, peg foot travelin' on
Following the drinking gourd

Chorus

The river ends between two hills
Follow the drinking gourd
There's another river on the other side
Follow the drinking gourd

Chorus

traditional African American spiritual

The voices that pierce through generations of struggle

Bessie Smith

The drum, the beat, the cool, the call back...

Voices that surpass the trauma of oppression, poverty

Reach into the ancestral pulse,

 Establishing the greatest of American Arts;

Stories echo through generations of Blackness;

Withstanding brutality to emerge with vitality,

Victorious in the annuals of world culture, always.

All images are Copyrighted by T. Truesdale

Reproductions are available for purchase

contact: tonitruesdale@gmail.com