to some, i am a painted face that
demands faith. the robed beauty
they see on stained glasses and ancient
temples, my image a reassuring comfort.
i am, after all, deity-people grovel at my
marbled feet. i am smooth and life-like,
and in times of doubt, i am the one
they seek.
but all the things they have seen are
gone, or soon will be. gone with the
deity. gone with me.
my sisters were not favored by love. there
were not much choices in it back then. one sister was forced by a brother to receive it in a dark corner; got blessed with a daughter, and became a devoted mother in the end. the other sister chose to be a spinster, a choice outside of love; an eternal maiden who chose to stay ignorant of men.
but i-
did i get to choose?
what have i chosen?
it has long been written that i have longed
for a love and to keep a love that i am
promised. to be better than a sister who
didn't get to choose and a sister who chose to lose a chance of it. i would have been better, if he were not king. but he chose to deceive me with an open window and a pair of broken wings. by the deception of a cockatoo, i was given my love so true.
what have i chosen?
did i get to choose?
me and my husband, we're sticking together.
for centuries, it would be him and me
together. but eternity was too idle for one woman's kiss and straying eyes meant secret trysts. it would be me and my
husband sticking together. and it would
be him and me and them together.
i have longed for a love,
and to keep a love i am promised.
perhaps, i am mad. an angry woman.
an angry out-of-my-mind woman. a mad
deity who did not choose to ignore her
husband's infidelity at the expense of chasing the children he made. am i better? the traitor's offsprings are myths, and i
am the vengeful mother.
what am i defending?
i have already lost and
the enemy is by my side.
look at me and my marbled eyes. the bond that holds you is the strength of my
resolve. we are the light that stays ignited
even without the presence of a home. your tears are not my strangers, for we have always fought for better.
goddess for eternity,
of wives,
of mothers.
me and my husband,
we're sticking forever.
in marbled gowns and literature,
we're sticking together.
