Sihultigenre Paper xemple MIRIAM'S SONG Pik and rads [113 Dear Reader, Hello, and welcome to my life, ora litle pece of it anyway. The following multigene paper describes the seven years my inom, Sarah was mamied to my stepfather, Eugene. It also involves ny brother, Nathan, and I Tve woven the story of Miriam into the story ofthe ending of my mom and step-dad's marsage. Mitam is 4m Old Testament Biblical character. She was the sister of Moses and Aaron. My paper follows the exodus ofthe Israelites from Eaype through Miriam's eyes, She makes the journey from slavery, bittemess, and oppression to freedom and joy. I found her sory 90d metaphor for my own, have been writing about this subject mater all semester. It has ‘been good to take a look at this painful time, and has allowed heal. ing to begin, Healing has brought about joy in my life, and I'm Teaming to sing, I'm learning to sing Miriam's song. Yours, Melinda Eugene ‘Mom mamied him when Iwas ten. For seven years he took away my life one angry glare atatime as I became a fat shell numbed by mounds of cookies sugar fixes sweet and sippery Thid behind ‘who--should-have-been A good student happymy BLENDING GENRE, AITERING STE Christian perfect ‘memorable a shallow inside buried ‘under layers of fatand hate. How It Began Mow Bucene: Ineed Ineed someone someone to wo love, cook hold dean stroke yield care, fisten touch, obey warm. work approve bong ie vurture carry ay ead quiet Baked Stepfather 10 cups anger 8 cups religious hypocrisy Bcups rage 6 cups bitterness, 5 cups fear 5 cups insecurity ‘Scant teaspoon love Mix anger, bitterness, rae, and religious hypocrisy well Spread ‘over fear, covering it completely. Let love sit until cold, then sprin- de haphazardly onto the pan. Stir in insecurity. Bake at ‘grees until hard shell has formed. 500 de-: ‘The Rules ePHEsANs 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fting inthe Lord. Rule 1: Wives should be a doormat to their husbands, bowing to their every whim. They should never question, never thinks never ‘eact in confusion or anger, only in quietness and modesty as is it. ‘ing a Christian woman. DEUTERONOMY 22:5 ‘A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this, Rule 2: Pants are traditionally worn by men and are therefore clas- sified as men's clothing. Since women are not to wear men's cloth. ing, this means women cannot wear pants and so must always weay skirts. God will get very angry at any woman who wears pants for any reason, no matter how silly a woman may lock wearing a skirt in subzero temperatures, { conmeruans 11:14-15 Doss not the very nature of things teach you that ifa man has long hai, i sa disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long har it her glory? For long hair is given to her as covering. Rule 3: This passage quite obviously shows that women ate not to cut their hair. Ever. Why cutoff your glory? Spit ends are not an excuse. Women's hair must not be touched by scissors uevmus 18:22 Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable. Rule 4: Homosexuals are detestable, In no way get near them. Run {rom them as fast as possible. They should be avoided at all costs. Someone else can save them. It isn't our job. Avoid all things that even serve as reminders of homosexuality This is by no means an exhaustive list ofthe rules and standards of the United Church of Pentecostal, For further information, please seek out a church near you, unless they find you first. kad ops [11516 sLeNoiNG Genre, ALTERING STYLE Mom. Balance. ‘Eugene. Melinda. Nathan. Pash. Pull ‘Work. Church. God? Ran, run. Sleep. Sleep, Sex. Now? No choice. No choices Lost. ‘Submit, submit. ‘Subdue: Anger Passion Fun. Lost, losing Cay, ey, cry. No. Excerpt from Miriam's Diary My brother Moses has finally come home. He says we are going to be freed soon. That God has decided to detiver us. What God? The ‘one who has forgotten his people. The one who has let them be ‘oppressed for so long by the Egyptians. This God has decided to deliver us? have been waiting hand and foot on Pharaoh's daughter for ‘years, and I will continue to do so for years to come. I have been. beaten. Ihave been molested. Freedom. I'm not sure 1 know what that word means. ‘Moses must be talking to a God that I don't know. Mine has forgotten I exist. Dear God. don't: drink smoke swear (usually) ‘wear pants cou my hair listen to bad music watch bad moviesWinever be good enough will? Love, Melinda (Age 10) Conversation Piece room __ wr voice (Gean up your room, Okay Sit up straight Yes, Eugene Dont tall back Silence You will never Tow be anything ‘Youll bea lousy mother mmm No wonder no boys ike you (nit Pig (chew) Tm only saying this because Hove you Limow Eating Disorder Blues Goua find me a pizza imuybe a cookie too Hell, how ‘bout the whole bag, [aint got nothin’ to lose ve got an ‘eating disorder Te got the binge and binge and binge and binge ‘cant purge blues Ob my tummy hurts wish I could stop 1rd really like to vomit But each time I uy I lop sera Ws not messy Tam Up yours, Tm more than you'll ever be You disgust me Lam what you made me Asshole Bullshit Risk and Exodus 7118] enOnc cove, Ive gotan, Se cating disorder ve got the binge ‘and binge and binge and binge can’t purge blues ‘There ain’ no boys that like me ‘my step-dad hates me too rd better uy to quit eating Or be size 62 Ive got an cating disorder Te got the binge and binge and binge and binge can't purge blues, Excerpt from Miriam's Diary “The God of our people has shown his hand. He has killed the frst born ofall the Egyptians. They all ied lastnight, quietly, wie they were asleep All heir mothers went in this momting to w4ke them and... Pharaoh wil now let us go. Go? Into the desert. Into tava and unceainy,Ialnost seems beter a. ‘ut the food in our mouths and a roof over our heads, even if we ae ‘We leave in the morning, ‘Spock looks down at hs tricorder. The planet around them is wooded, wth wind rusting the tres. ‘Spock: 1'm picking up something strange, Captain. Kirke pus his hands on his hips. Kirk: What. . could it... be? ‘Spock: Tim not atall certain. Itlooks tobe about five fet nine indhes tall, ‘wearing boots, a flannel shir, and a pair of blue jeans. ft seems angry and very unreasonable. Kirk [looking abit nervous]: Set your phasers... on... ll, ‘Suddenly the creature jumps out ofthe woods. ‘Scotty: Good God, Captain, Ive never seen something so horrilfe. Kirk: What are you? (Creature: T'm Eugene Scotty: We've heard all about you. Its known all over the galaky, how you treat Melinda and Nathan‘Kirk raises his phaser and aims it directly atthe creature's pointed nose and sho- “Nathan!” Eugene barks. “What "Get up here and clean up this mess. I tell you I've never seen such a lazy, no-good..." Dear Nathan, Tim sony. I wanted to protect you, | wanted to step in and make the monster go away. | wanted to fight for you and keep you warm and make all the fear and cold and pain and anger go away. I wanted to cradle you and lullaby you to sleep. But T couldn't even save mysel. Love, Your sister Excerpt from Miriam's Diary ‘The route Moses is leading us on will end atthe Red Sea. There is ‘no way we can get across. We are trapped. I can see a faint cloud rising behind us. ‘A cloud raised by horses hooves and chariot wheels. Pharaoh is coming after us. Either he will take us back into slav- ‘ery or drive us into the sea, God has led us out here to die. We have displeased him. We have tried, tried, tried so hard. Team hear the sea, Excerpt from the transcript of an interview with Eugene that appeared in the antcle “Sticks and Stones: The Dynamics of Verbal Abuse” in Aug, 1993 issue of Psychology Today, and Ecos 119rao] gemncaeyee, Reporter: Doyou bln 14 508 oving man? ‘ALTERING STYLE gone: Now what exactly is love anyway? i ll you what iis Love a a rem Golem. He ee perfection of us and I expect perfection out ofthe kids. Reporter; Isnt that bit unreasonable? agene: Unreasonable Tha’ always been what's expected out 4 ‘Why, Iemember when I was a oy, Thad to get up eat, do ry chores, and be serubbed and ready for breaks by 6 ¢ Everything had to be done right, too, or Td get & whippin’ ‘you wouldn't believe Reporter: So your father abused you .. Trgene: That warn' no abuse, He loved me. He kept me in line, Thays ‘what family is. Thats what family does. That’ love. Have you ever whipped your step-cildren, Melinda apd Nathan? Fugene: No. Not yet. If they keep pushing though - Reporter: What do you think of Melinda and Nathan? Tragene: Lazy as all get out If didnt keep at them every second of foe day, nothin’ would ever get done. They'd be on the roed t Hel sft werent for-me. Reporter: Hell? ‘Tragene: [taught them the rules, what they had to do to be right in Gee's SSght And Imake sure they tick with em. 1it weren't form, 1 don't know where they'd be. Excerpt from Miriam's Diary ed Sea parted, like curtains pulled by invisible hands. Then a ‘oud fell between us and the Egyptians, and all night we crossed] the seabed. As the last family set foot on the other side, Pharaoh entered th} dry ta bed with his troops. Soon they were all in the middle ofthe ‘oop walls of water, They were so close. We hadnt moved, couldnt ‘Moses stood calmly, then, he lowered his staf, and the curtains water fll. T watched them drown. Our captors, our rapists. heard they scream, I watched their bodies float vo the surface. We were free. God had remembered us. God had freed vs. ‘afer a few moments of stunned silence, Moses began to sing. (One by one, others joined in.will sing tothe Lord for he is highly exalted ‘The horse and its rider Ihe has hurled into the sea “The Lord is my strength 1 will prise im Pharaoh's chariots and his army hhe has hurled into the sea ‘The deep waters have covered them In your unfailing love You will ead ‘The people you have redeemed began to cry. I picked up a dusty tambourine, long silent, and began to dance and sing. I danced up and down the shore, and ‘other women began to follow, leaping and singing. We kicked and spun and cried and sang, 1 will sing tothe Lord for he is highly erated ‘The horse and its rider Ihe as hurled into the sea He has redeemed us. We are free. ‘Dear Eugene, | imow you are wondering why 1 am leaving, The better question {, why did I marry an asshole like you in the first place. I have a few ideas, | needed to be loved. I needed to be held. 1 wanted to be wanted. My first husband was gay. I needed someone to be attracted to me asawoman, You were. ‘And then... it was easier to stay. The Bible says divorce is wrong, 50 I thought I should stick it out. Its beter forthe kids that way. | lost myself somewhere. 'm not sure where I was those seven years. Seven years of cowering, fearing, Then one day... .Isaidno, ‘And that was the end of that ik nd xo |v2] BLENDING GENRE, ‘ALTERING STYLE Itsounds easier than itis. Codependency is hard to explain unless ‘you are there. Ilove you. Ido. ‘But you only ove yourself, your rules. You cling to them and your God: given authority. Thope you find a wonderful new woman to screw soon. Good-bye Love Sarah, Psalm ‘Then we cut our hair and Danced a freedom song ‘on the banks of the Red Sea ‘Tambourines singing Praising, He-who-hasnt-forgotten, Never look back run from the flood tease the wind dance on the shore ‘Unafraid ofthe storms Blinded by the sudden light ‘The horse and rider thrown, Surely goodness and mercy ‘will follow us ‘Amen End Notes “The content of Miriam’s diary was taken and expanded from Exo- dus 12-15 in the Old Testament of the Bible. Miriam's thoughts and emotions were added by me. The song she sings and her danc- ing are taken from the Bible. "The play Nathan imagines was loosely based on the Star Trel franchise.