Goddess of Yes

I read this poem at a Mamapalooza festival that my oldest daughter organized last year. When I introduced this poem, I told the story of the Baptist mom who called my house one time, enraged that our school aged daughters were not getting along, and then when she ran out of things to be angry about, just started shouting, “Anything goes at your house, doesn’t it? Just anything goes!” I and told her calmly yes, “Anything goes.”

And so I write this in response to all those white male parenting gurus who extort all good parents to just say “No.”
I say no to no because

I am the goddess of yes
Yes to more
Yes to it all
The goddess of yes
Trying to suppress the darkness of less
The darkness of no
The darkness of not enough
Sometimes I am gentle,
Sometimes I play rough
I can be generous
Because I know there is always enough

I am the goddess of love
Love to one
Love to all
Love to conquer the fear and the fall
The fear and the fall which tears us apart
The fear and the fall which trembles our heart
Sometimes I am strong,
Sometimes I am soft,
I open my arms to embrace the lost

I am the goddess of yes to all of the no’s
The goddess who loves you from your head to your toes
The goddess who knows the good that you hold
The goddess who spins your pain into gold