Gorgons

it’s not our glance
that turns you to stone
but your own—
as soon as you see us
you become cold
insensitive
unable to respond
to ugly women

•

The Gorgons were three sisters (Medusa was one of them) who were monsters with ‘snaky hair, most horrible’; whoever looked at them turned instantly to stone.

Chryseis and Briseis

it would seem
that nothing is more important to a man
than a woman:
they go to war
because of one
and once there
they fight and kill
to get one:
Agamemnon got Chryseis,
then sulked when the gods said
he had to give her back,
and stole Briseis,
the one Achilles had gotten,
to have instead.

so this is my poem
for you, Chryseis, and you, Briseis
sitting in their tents
trying to understand
how you can be both prisoner and prize,
how you can be sought like gold
but treated like shit.

suddenly it comes to you:
it’s not womanhood that’s being glorified
but manhood—
and proof of the latter is having one of the former

the problem understood
the solution is clear:
establish another proof of manhood.
no, it’s really not so much
a matter of proof
as a matter of definition—

in either case,
it’s out of your hands,
as long as they’re tied.

•

Agamemnon and Achilles were both members of the Greek army that fought the Trojan War (a war begun over a woman, Helen). A quarrel began about Chryseis, who had been carried off by the Greeks and given to Agamemnon. Chryseis’ father begged for her release but Agamemnon refused. Because this angered the gods (Chryseis’ father was a priest of Apollo), the army chiefs, led by Achilles, persuaded Agamemnon to change his mind. He did so, saying ‘But if I lose her who was my prize of honour, I will have another in her stead’. He then sent two of his men to Achilles’ tent to get his prize, a woman named Briseis. Achilles allowed them to take her, but swore he would have revenge.