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Medusa

by Andrea Nicki

Sleeping peacefully
alongside her sisters,

all with serpents for hair
magnificently coiled
and intertwined,

espied by jealous Athene
spurring on Perseus
to make bloody his hands.

His eyes paralyzed with fear,
seeing only his victim's reflection,

swings his blade with full force
through all things impenetrable,

decapitating the lover of Poseidon,
the mother of Chrysador and Pegasus.

The slow-dying hiss of her fury
causes men who come near
to choke on their hearts,

empty their minds of thoughts.

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