Medusa

they call you monster
gorgon
murderess
slayer of heroes

but I remember
fair-cheeked Medusa
how you shone
before the fall

how you sparkled
before the goddess' wrath
deformed your pale thighs
and your dark, beguiling eyes

you were terrifying
in your beauty perhaps
in your soft-spoken charms
but no monster

even the mighty sea god
was helpless before you
desecrating Athena's temple
in his eagerness to hold you
to make you his own

priestess of Athena
how you begged your mistress' mercy
how you ran in shame
when she showed herself unmerciful

your only crime was love
and as punishment
you were made too hideous
for that chaste union

your rosy breasts
turned black and dry
your silky tresses
rose like snakes
infecting your mind
with their demon talk
your eyes turned dark as night
and the heroes that pursued you
that hunted you for glory
dropped like flies before your raging fire

but one cannot deny one's Fate

the villain Perseus
aided by the base and vengeful gods
cut off your lovely head
and now your tragic form lies cold as stone
a posthumous tribute to your victims

Poseidon's child still sleeping in your swollen belly
never to be born

Copyright, Walter Wykes 2009