Thursday, March 14, 2013

Postcard from an Obscure Island




My dear, the myths are slightly different here.
You’ll think you recognise Medusa’s snarl
In the mosaic overleaf. It is in fact Majousa,
Local parallel of the better known snakes-for-hair.
The guidebook says that she,
Unlike the traditional Greek Gorgon,
Was formed inside her father’s femur
Where, marrow-warm, she swung in the pendulum
Of his restless walks for nine long months.
Then, at pained shrieks from him that bore her,
She snapped free from this uncanny loin leg,
(Less a uterus, more an egg) and all beheld a babe
With snakes for hair.

The manner of her birth had left its mark,
As those who look upon her turn to bone,
Ossified to a living ache, and bound
To starve with the hushed poise of a statue.
These victims line her boudoir
Where she pouts in consternation
How to fix this hair without a mirror
And how to keep it still?


William Kraemer © 2013

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