Greek Tragedy

I will not stand before you; it would be like trembling before the might of Zeus...

I have a face like a Fury
hair like Medusa
I’m shaped like a manticore
with feet like Atlas

I know I’m no Aphrodite
I’m no Athena
I beg no golden apples

I will not stand before you
it would be like
trembling before the might of Zeus
or a woman before Hera

if I could but hide like Daphne
or escape beneath Poseidon’s waves

Heracles has come and slain me
I will go to join Cerberus
Waiting by the river
Hello Hermes give me news
of what goes on above

I’m not like Persephone
no one will create winter if I’m gone
Not like the heroes
rescued from Hades

I am not like the Hydra
if you cut of a head
I have no life left in me
I am fallen like Helle

I will stay here like Tantalus
always watching what I can not have
waiting for what I can not have

I lie on the bed and find I’m too tall
cut off my feet so I will be small
bind me to a tree-top and let it sway
I’ll fly to the Argo and sail away

I will stay in Hades and be like Tantalus
always watching what I can not have
waiting for what I can not have
reaching for what will never be