They said she was a monster
Said she could have been a martyr
Could have been Jesus
Her face on stone walls
Snakes still hissing from her skull
Said she would only ever be strength
I have never heard Athena's mouth speak
How her cries of agony sounded as her priestesses body was used
To desecrate her temple
No one ever told me
If tears still taste salty in stone walls
You
Would say she cried venom
Or her tear ducts were welded shut
I say she
Wasn't even 10 years
Past 18
She
Was more child than woman
She couldn't yet have forgotten her crib
Stop making me forge her like a blade
In fires you bathed her in
Her only appeal is silence
And I say to that
Of course it is
Her snakes are allowed to hold more sound in their tongues then she ever held
In her whole body
I wish her warm blooded
Unscathed
I wish her a home
Not a cave filled with fearful rock faces
Stop trying to tell me
She was dangerous
I already love her for it
I already mourn her for it
I already understand
That her only way out
Could have naturally been
As the friction against a loud man's ego
Carrying her in his hand
Showing her off
Or
Allowing her to exist only when he became scared
Told her
The world thinks you're ugly
Thinks you're deformed
Best thing is to stay in my shadow
He doesn't say I've already cut your head from your body
I'll give you no chance to grow it back
Keep you at my hip because
I can't control you if you stand tall
And I want to call to her
Saying sister
Look at the scars on my neck
Don't let this man be your guillotine.
I have not yet forgotten you
You are so much more than stone and snakes
Make me listen
Tell me your favourite song
Where you used to sit when you were the most at peace
Where you dreamed to travel
If given half the chance
Because you deserve the world
And I understand
That despite protection
One side effect of making stone from bodies of flesh
Is you say
Humble yourself
Bringing them down to earth.
Even though this was never your job
And yet they still kept chasing
Looking for more of you to take.
So that their names would be echoed throughout history
But your laugh rings off the stone walls of your chambers still
Because yours
Will always be louder
And my smile falters
Because it should've never had to have been