Sile-na-Gigs and the Menopause

They say we're on the verge, the edge, at the cross roads, the threshold.
Of what, we ask? And is it terminal?

They say that the onset of menopause heralds the arrival of heart disease, thinning hair, thinning bones, vaginal atrophy, waning libido
And dryness--just about everywhere...

Visions of a leering Sile Na Gig loom large.
The Siles, some say, erected as warnings against debauchery along pilgrim trails, have been reclaimed by women in recent decades as figures of wisdom and authority.
Waning moons for sure, but experienced, mischievous and joyful in their knowing.

Here's a Sile poem first published in Network Magasine.Vol 43




Sile-Na-Gig

Sile squats in mock-lotus leering.
She already knows your desire.
Her labia lips mouth it.
Her bulging eyes are ripe with it.
With her sagging -breast -dunes and knife-edge-rib-trail
She is the desert you must cross over
Sand-slide shifting you towards her portal gate
Where she stands Cerberus- like
Sharp toothed and ears pointed
Her bald pate urging you to shed

For beyond this point there be dragons
And icy depths and full moons and hags to be embraced
And she asks
Are you ready?

http://www.sheelanagig.org/wordpress/

https://www.google.ie/ IMAGES of Sile- Na Gigs

http://networkmagazine.ie/