Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Poem: "Sacred to Medusa"

This poem came from the December 3, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from LJ user Fayanora. It has been sponsored by [personal profile] gingicat. This poem belongs to the series Glimpses of Minoa, which you can find via the Serial Poetry page.


"Sacred to Medusa"


Medusa is the mother
of snakes and women too,
whose priestesses spoke proudly
of what their goddess knew.

The stars that tread the heavens,
the Moon that rules the sea,
were studied by Medusa
who set her knowledge free.

The snakes who ate the rodents
that fed upon the grain
were sacred to Medusa
and sprouted from her brain.

Each serpent was a thoughtform
that spoke in mother-tongue
the wisdom of the cosmos
when Knossos yet was young.

Now Knossos is a ruin
and snakes are scorned as sin,
but stones still bear old scriptures
and snakes can shed their skin.

Now women walk with worry
when they must go by night,
but Moon is still a goddess
remembering their right.

Medusa's still a power
whatever men may say,
and nightly sends her whispers
that girls may find their way.

Her fangs are sharp as ever,
her justice cold as stone.
The men may guard their treasures --
Medusa guards her own.

* * *

Notes:

You can read more about Minoan culture online.

Medusa is a famous figure from Greek mythology.
Tags: cyberfunded creativity, fishbowl, gender studies, history, poem, poetry, reading, weblit, writing
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  • 4 comments
fayanora

fayanora

May 9 2015, 08:53:03 UTC 6 years ago

I've been in love with the idea of Medusa as a Goddess for ages. Three of the members of our collective worship Her. And I have a character in my Lyria series who worships Medusa. She's of a sect that attempts to embody Medusa's fierce spirit (figuratively, not literally), being the snakes that defend themselves and others with their fangs (figuratively or literally, depending on the species), as opposed to the other major sect of Medusa worshipers who simply pray for Medusa to protect them.
ysabetwordsmith

Yay!

ysabetwordsmith

May 9 2015, 08:59:24 UTC 6 years ago

I'm glad you liked this so much. I enjoy your imagery.
kestrels_nest

kestrels_nest

May 9 2015, 09:17:30 UTC 6 years ago

Medusa guards her own

For some reason I hear this mentally as if it were spoken by an elderly woman, still strong, teaching the girls of yet another generation. It's a conversational "Medusa? She guards her own, child. She guards her own."

I love this.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

May 9 2015, 09:23:21 UTC 6 years ago

I love that mental image. Yay! I'm also glad that this resonated so much for you.