By Sara L Russell
00:58, 7/11/11
1
I was a priestess once, inviolate;
With hair like Aphrodite's; soft spun gold;
Blissfully unaware of future fate,
With all the happiness a heart might hold.
Great artists came from many miles around
To make my portrait while I stood in prayer;
I wore brocaded gowns that skimmed the ground
And garlands of white lilies in my hair.
Oh blameless life, sweet vision of the past!
Oh hapless bovine state of womanhood!
Oh unjust, cruel curse holding me fast;
How I would flee away, if I but could!
For I did nothing wrong, no harm was meant,
To be stricken with such a punishment...
2
One summer's day, thinking of keeping cool,
I was disrobing on a quiet bay
Behind some rocks, beside a limpid pool,
As amber fire marked the fading day.
There came a sudden parting of the sea,
The waves came open, like a corridor,
Poseidon and his henchmen came to me,
With lustful gaze, across the ocean floor.
Then all at once, his henchmen held me tight,
I felt Poseidon's rank breath in my face,
His breath like bladderwrack, deathly as night,
Embrace of scaly arms, touch of disgrace.
I struggled fiercely but he ravished me,
Turned my virtue into a travesty.
3
When at last Poseidon had his fill
He left me all alone to face my shame
Ah, how I burned with shame! I feel it still
And wondered if somehow I was to blame.
I curled up, in self-comfort, on my side,
Naked and weeping, as he swam away
And all at once, the heavens opened wide
Goddess Athena had something to say.
"And didst thou tempt my dearest love from me?"
She shouted, as I lay sprawled at her feet.
"I'll turn thy beauty to monstrosity!"
She added, ere I could flee or retreat.
No sooner spoken, than the change began;
Though foolishly, I rose back up and ran.
4
I fled for what seemed all eternity
Until I found a rock pool near a cave
To study my reflection, fearfully
To see what evil gifts Athena gave.
I sank to kneel in abject, dark despair,
Thinking, surely the pool's reflection lies!
Green serpents now replaced my golden hair,
Red pupils graced my staring, lidless eyes
My lips, once subject of admirer's praise
Were drawn up in a deathly, mirthless grin;
My tongue flicked out, before my helpless gaze,
To snare a fly that landed on my chin.
This face is mine, and I must live alone;
For every man who sees it turns to stone.