Poem: "Medusa's Daughter"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem was inspired by a prompt from moosl. The "Abdominal Faces" photo reminded me of Medusa. Now that myth is full of some pretty horrifying patriarchal symbolism. So I turned it all on its ear, used some female imagery, and turned out a fairly disturbing poetic myth. It's written in ascending stanzas, each a line longer than the last.

Medusa’s Daughter

Medusa’s daughter was a complete surprise.

Medusa’s daughter was born
after a blind man found her mother’s cave.

Medusa’s daughter had the beak of a sea-eagle,
and a single snake arose from her brow
to wrap a hundred times around her head.

Medusa’s daughter sprouted a lapful of snakes
rooted in her womb when she became a woman,
each of them wearing a human mask
and each of them bearing a different power.

Medusa’s daughter ran back to the cave
when she heard her mother scream,
but she was too late to save Medusa.
When she got there, Perseus had already
hacked off the head and gone away.

Medusa’s daughter changed herself
into a sea-eagle and pecked Jupiter’s eyes out.
She changed herself into a snake, slithered
to the underworld throne, and bit Pluto on the thigh.
She changed herself into a fish, swam to Neptune,
swallowed him and vomited him up again.

Medusa’s daughter said to the gods:
“I can change more than any of you. Fear me.”
The gods said to Medusa’s daughter:
“We fear you. Go away.”
“Give me the Moon,” she said, and so they did.
“Hey, that’s mine!” whined Diana,
but no one cared.

Medusa’s daughter moved to the Moon.
Its pale dust was the color of her skin.
Its shadows were as sharp as her beak.
Its light was as cold as her eyes.
Its face was as scarred as her heart.
“I will wait for you here,” Medusa’s daughter said
to the mortal women in their dreams.
“Change. Grow. Fly.”