Medusa by Anika Torruella
STANZA I
I am the unbeholden, the demon of blood, The undying feared by man and gods. With golden wings and brazen claws, No one ever was a husband to me. I am the ageless queen with the hidden face, The veiled maiden with fingernail blades. I rage as the sea-lioness of the dawn Who smothers her enemies with her breasts. When the men with the silver swords came, I screamed. STANZA II I am limitless and eternal Without lover, ally, nor friend. I stand alone upon the stinging sands A hollow soul feasted on by man. Bitter winds blow from the east, Arousing sultry seas beneath the gloomy sky. I spread myself to the wind and fly, My daughters hiss their vaporous cry. Yet, when the men with the silver swords came, I screamed! STANZA III Oh, see the irresistible grim face of death, The fetorous house of birth. Inside me, there is a strange place Where expanding blood foretells the future. Yet, it does not kill me. I cannot die. Like the thunderous son of light’ning Pain portends the mystery of healing Foreboding, all life awaits its trembling. Yet, when the men with the silver swords came, I screamed. |
STANZA IV
Shards of stone litter my lonely road Dark’ning clouds cover the thunderstorm, No residue of what once remained Rolls with that deplorable noise Cracked on the battlefield of blood and bone. Bursting clouds, torrents of rain Pour down my glaucous eyes Smashing child and man alive. Yet, when the men with the silver swords came, I screamed. STANZA V In the green serge of the sea, My children erupt onto the earth, The unwary are destroyed by me, The boiling moon riddled with wounds. I am the octopus of the night Seeking you with tongues of death, Below me each step turns to dust, Above, each star a sharp, white tooth. Yet - When the men with the silver swords came, I screamed. |