The Riders of Giddeon and other Poems

We the Gods Abandonment

My mother is a gorgon and we live upon the hill,

Where she fills the land with statues so silent and so still.

I follow in her footsteps around her shadowed stead,

And watch the sea green snakes writhe upon her head.

She tells me many stories of the sky, the sea and earth,

And her golden eyes light up with happiness and mirth.

I listen with avid wonder at all the things she knows,

As our stone collection grows and grows and grows.

Sometimes my mother cries at night,

And wraps me in her arms so tight.

She whispers how she loves me, her little boy so,

I hug her back and make her sadness go.

We play with my wooden toys together,

Mother laughs and I want the moment to last forever.

Her snakes wriggle and tickle my cheeks,

As I giggle and give the joy she seeks.

Suddenly the world comes crashing down,

As our door is kicked in by men from the town.

I'm scooped up in my mother's arms as she starts to sprint,

The quick escape causing her cheeks to tint.

But the men are following close behind,

With weapons in their hands and shouting things unkind.

As she runs, my mother tells me not to worry and that we'll be fine,

With a trembling smile as she makes for the pines.

A sudden bang and to the ground mother falls,

As the men let out elated calls.

I scramble up from the dust,

To see the wound in her leg flake with blood like rust.

Her eyes are frantic as she tells me to flee,

But the fear writhes and crawls inside of me.

The men are fast approaching and mother is crying,

I know that she doesn't want to hurt people, that she's been trying.

They waste no time and cover her eyes,

I cry and scream and hit their thighs.

But they only laugh and kick me aside,

While mother still whispers for me to hide.

Roughly mother's hands are bound with rope,

I let out a wail and beg and hope.

But all they do is laugh amongst themselves and jeer,

Threaten, insult, hurt and leer.

I want them to stop, stop it! No!

As one aims another kick low.

Leave my mother alone!

A scream and breaking bone.

But then a man makes a panicked sound,

And the others all peer round.

His arm is gradually turning hard and grey,

The longer that he stays.

They look at my mother in fear and greatly puzzled,

She's injured and her gaze still muzzled.

As stone spreads across them and to each other,

That's what they get for hurting my mother!

My gaze is fixed firmly on them all,

Turning them into statues tall.

Reveling in their flailing panic,

As their limbs freeze in movements manic.

And as all goes quiet, I help mother peel away the blinding fabric,

Carefully avoiding the cuts, grazes and nicks.

She turns her head and takes the scene in,

Slow smile emerging at my justified sin.

Mother holds me and tells me how proud she is of me,

And if I hadn't done it, those men would never have let us be.

She stumbles to her feet until she stands,

And I entwine my fingers in her waiting hand.

I am a gorgon and I live upon the hill,

Together with my mother making the land so silent and so still.