A poem from former WATER intern Annabeth Roeschley

“A Place Like WATER”

If there is a place where hard work is sustained by hard laughter, hard play, I have found it at WATER.

If there is a space created and cultivated for women to make waves in religion, I have dug it deeply at WATER.

If there is an energy sparking from the fingertips of an 83-year old Sister, I have touched it at WATER.

If there have been voices speaking truth to power, I have spoken – sometimes loud, sometimes silent – with them at WATER.

If there is a sacred patch of grass where intergenerational bodies align with the full moon, I have spurred their rhythm at WATER.

If there are days where I wonder what bulk mailings, Australian panforte (fruitcake), and online spry bars have to do with feminist work in religion, I have questioned – and answered – this at WATER.

If there is a faith community that keeps justice at its heart, I have pulsed among them at WATER.

If there is an organization where feminist methodology is not only the goal of the work but also how the work gets done, I have collaborated as such at WATER.

If where even our honest and best efforts to be feminist can be critiqued, I have been here long enough to offer mine at WATER.

If there are women whose commitments to dismantle sexism reaches from the hegemonies of the Catholic Church to the back alleyway, I have joined these dissidents at WATER.

If there is a web that spans language and country, age and faith, profession and perspective, I am “once connected, always connected” with WATER.

Anna Roeschley (l), former WATER Staff, embraces the late Carol Scinto, WATER’s longtime beloved editor