 SetuVolume 5; Issue 10; March 2021Setu PDF Archives EditorialPoetryExperimental PoetryPhoto AlbumYoung VoicesAuthor of the MonthShort Fiction / FlashSerial novelSetu Initiative: Setu Series of Virtual ReadingsContemporary ConcernsBook Review
Special Edition: Women’s Poetry: The Myth of Medusa Deconstructed Guest Editor: Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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Showing posts with label 202103E. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 202103E. Show all posts
Setu, March 2021
Editorial, March 2021
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| Sunil Sharma |
Happy Holi from India!
Let the colors of love and forgiveness spread virtually this month.
Holi is celebration of good over evil and burning down of the darkness of soul. A process of inner cleansing---and obtaining of better self and behavior. It is coming together, among others, of foes-turned-friends, and, of varied communities in the country and abroad, in diasporic settings, on a common cultural platform.
This time, too, we meet virtually and enjoy the warmth of uplifting and reassuring messages and visuals on this day.
Pandemics cannot keep the human spirit down---for long---and away from social contexts.
Besides that, Holi announces the arrival of the multi-colored and multi-splendored spring!
Revival of the earth and bursting forth of life---after cold hibernation!
Let there be light, love and romance in every life---the Spring Eternal!
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Another cause for happiness:
Setu bilingual journal crossed more than 2 million hits recently! A big achievement. Thanks to the support of writers and readers alike for this four-year-old digital venue. We keep on innovating and engaging the target audience in many ways---the discerning connoisseurs of fine arts and culture in Hindi and English via interesting and relevant content.
This March, select women poets were invited to do video readings on the enduring Stri Shakti. The link is given elsewhere of these recitals that coincided with March 8 observed as the International Women’s Day (IWD)---and beyond---throughout this month.
Tribute to Woman Power, poetic, from this global platform, kind of acknowledgement of the creative energy and unsurpassed contribution of women in the development and evolution of the world. IWD is a collective towards a more humane world, and, equal opportunities. It is our humble endeavour to join this movement through these initiatives.
We also requested noted multi-lingual poet, editor and presenter Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy to guest-edit the special edition of Women’s Poetry, third year in a row, to spotlight the writings by women as creatives. She graciously agreed and curated this special edition by inviting some top poets for this project. The theme, this time, was the complex myth of Medusa. Their lyrical responses are superb!
As usual, we remain grateful to Padmaja, all the contributors and you, for extending the loving support.
Take care!
Stay safe!
Let there be music of words and imagery!
Guest Editor’s Note: Women Poetry: The Myth of Medusa Deconstructed
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| Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy |
Greetings. When a bowler takes a hat trick of wickets, the entire stadium erupts into a frenzy of celebrations and raptures. I experienced the same feelings of celebration and rapture, when Dr. Sunil Sharma, Editor-English, Setu, invited me for the third year in a row, to helm Setu, March, 2021 Women’s Special Edition, as Guest Editor. Needless to add that I readily accepted the assignment!
The theme of Setu, March, 2021 Women’s Special Edition is “The Myth of Medusa Deconstructed”. The entire credit for conceiving of this excellent theme goes to Dr. Sunil Sharma, the Editor-English, Setu. Think Medusa, and a sense of sadness pervades one for the sheer injustice and unfairness meted out to Medusa by Poseidon and Athena! Sadly, strangely and unfortunately, Medusas still abound all around us – raped, then blamed and shamed, and even killed - the perpetrator often goes scot free and untainted!
I thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience of reading the Medusa-themed poems by 23 talented women poets from 11 countries – Bangladesh, Greece, India, Italy, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago and USA. They have presented different dimensions of Medusa in their poems, especially highlighting the contemporary realities!
My deepest gratitude to the women poets who responded to Setu’s call and have made the valuable and generous contribution of their poems to this Special Women’s Edition of Setu, on the theme of “The Myth of Medusa Deconstructed”.
Come, enjoy the rich fare of poetry themed on “The Myth of Medusa Deconstructed” in this March, 2021 edition of Setu!
Women Poetry: The Myth of Medusa Deconstructed:
Featured Authors
Women Poetry: Ms. Virginia Jasmin Pasalo, Philippines
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Virginia Jasmin Pasalo |
MEDUSA
raped, you lay there
beside your defiler
in a meadow, full of flowers
a temple for the pure
defiled by a higher god
too powerful to get blame
by a lesser god
you took the wrath
snakes for your hair
no reason, no justice
but caprice
the will of the gods
your body, your hair
your head
theirs, for the picking.
***
LOOK AT ME
I want you to stop looking at my breasts
like a famished overgrown calf
these are the same as the others
the same as your mother’s
I want you to stop exploring my terrain
like a logger takes the landscape
doing anything, everything
as he wills
I want you to look at me, not as the ground
to dig and penetrate and dominate
but to be engulfed in the mystery of my abyss
I want you to look at me
not as a woman coming from your rib
but you, coming out of my womb
Virginia Jasmin Pasalo is the founding Chairperson of the Women in Development Foundation. For her extensive and valuable engagement with women, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo appointed her as the first representative of the women sector in the Board of Trustees of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). Ms. Pasalo has authored and edited books on poetry, history, culture and development and has been recognized and cited for her initiatives in fostering culture and environmental activism. She has been awarded various fellowships from several countries. She is a Fellow of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, USA.
Women Poetry: Ms. Sreetanwi Chakraborty, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Sreetanwi Chakraborty |
OF THE SAND AND SURF DAYS: TO THE WINGED WOMAN
Where the sunflowery days meet the Chandrabhaga sand,
Ebb, tide, lilts and rhyme across the tropical days
Rains of love, glittering in Medusa’s silvery band,
Where the sandpiper relishes the moon’s luminous gaze
And in the serrated whirlpool of the nights long lost
The lady forlorn cries the salty, tumultuous name,
O the cashew-caressed manes of her man,
Blazing across Ratnagiri’s late-evening flame
The conch blows here, the sound shivering through kendu leaves,
Whitens the day as the forefather blesses the Magha,
Sifting through the paddy she heaves
As the Mahanadi sings its blissful raga
O the lady’s love unfurls, the shikhara stands tall.
The poetic prisms glimmer, beheaded Medusa says it all.
* Shikhara- a spire on a Hindu temple
Chandrabhaga- name of an Indian river
Raga- a melodic composition
Magha- the eleventh month in a Hindu calendar
Kendu-the leaves of Coromandel ebony plant
***
THE LAVENDER-MOON AND MEDUSA ON THE DECK
It was a simple lilting night with the lavender-moon lingering for Medusa’s attention,
As the rover
Rowed
Mowed
Bowed
Sowed
Flowed
Into the iconic desires of the decked beauty...
The beauty on the deck it was-
The lilting night grew more fervent
As the dazzling lavender-moon
Moaned
Groaned
Toned
Zoned into the gyrating motions of the rover’s eyes
With the dusky night carousing between the decked beauty’s creamy thighs,
The decked Medusa fell asleep...forever...as the dream and the river collapsed under the netted, tongue-tied love.
***
Women Poetry: Dr. Sigma Sathish, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Sigma Sathish |
HER WORLD
She stared at her shadows.
In chains of grief,
Words set aside…
She had only dreams to register
her loneliness
Words fell from her to banks of river Nile
She threw men into mysterious
beauty of hers
Since then
she had been wondering
how to survive
now she grew like
Greek mythologies.
She lost abruptly.
With a bewitching smile,
she lives in all women.
Her only weapon....
***
LET ME BUY A REFLECTOR
He tries to explore her
and becomes stone
Hey woman,
Just document your life.
Colour it,
Let it be a running diary.
Her thoughts,
spin as hungry snakes
and slither in many men.
They scare at her gaze.
Her red eyes,
make more statues
Once again
she is a slave
to her stunning beauty.
Let me buy a reflector
***
Women Poetry: Ms. Shafinur Shafin, Bangladesh
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Shafinur Shafin |
GASLIGHTING
They say, “cover your hair! They are so misleading!”
She says, “how does my hair mislead you!
You powerful man, can’t you ignore my hair?”
They say, “No! We get tempted, we become weak
Seeing these snaky hairs! We feel as if Satan calling us
with his illusive voice- trying to feed us forbidden fruit
We believe it’s no one but you- women
Having a sinned body and beauty with slutty smile
Yes, whenever we see you smile at us-
we know you must be a slut
Are you not ashamed of yourself!?”
They started pelting stones on us
Is it the way they make our body bloody-sinned
With forever rules and punishment?
THE SONG MEDUSA SINGS EVERYDAY
How many days have we made a mistake
Thinking life will be a simple one if we are in love!
One day I will stop knocking your door
This fear will wake you up in the evening
I water the trees.
The tea tray comes, the biscuit pieces
Fall to the bottom of the cup
The calling bell rings, door opens
Enters the noise of love
As mundane
Where it hides
You crave sleep
And me- my survival
Women Poetry: Ms. Seena Sreevalson, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Seena Sreevalson |
MYTH OF MEDUSA-DECONSTRUCTED
Revelations
She embraced love
And immersed into conflicts.
Sour fruits of painful love,
Summon to those desires.
Sighs are often
Interpreted
Ambiguously.
Inscriptions
Each strand of her hair
Like snakes that fume fire
Inscribes agony.
The broken wings of her mind
Still quivering with love.
The power of longing
Turns everything
Hard stones.
Divine love that protects
Calls conscious awareness.
Let her memory live on forever
Women Poetry: Ms. Sankalpita Mullick, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
FRIENDSHIP, FREEDOM AND BEAUTY THROUGH THE FEMALE GAZE
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| Sankalpita Mullick |
Hear Ye Hear Ye,
The silence of Philomela,
A tapestry of words woven by song,
Losing themselves to find their voice, the sisters were finally free.
Hear Ye Hear Ye,
The mourning of the Sirens,
Wails to find their sister, corrupted by the sea.
Enchanted, sailors gave up their hearts screaming, “Take me! Take me!”.
Hear Ye Hear Ye,
The myth of Medusa,
Courage masked by fury; her suffering forgotten as she was perceived as scary.
The tales of her petrifying, outweighing her trauma and becoming her legacy.
Hear Ye Hear Ye,
The myth of Medusa,
The boon of protection, seen as the curse of being shunned as horrific…of being mocked as ugly.
Her fa├зade a blessing, it took a Goddess to foresee.
Hear Ye Hear Ye,
The gaze that we’ve internalized and embodied,
That places beauty above all,
But such suffocating beauty is worthless when you hear a woman roar.
Sankalpita Mullick is a 19-year-old author and law student. She authored her book- Metamorphosis: Legends Comes to Life, when she was 13. Her first book Metamorphosis was published at 14. She is a part of an international writer’s collective with the Instagram handle: mind_melt_worldwide. She was the recipient of a scholarship by the United States, State Department for a fully funded writing program to Iowa, USA (Between the Lines-Iowa Writing Program). She has also been one of the winners of the Hindustan Times creative (essay) writing competition and she has won the LaughGuru National creative writing competition receiving scholarships for both. She is an avid reader and a passionate writer.
Women Poetry: Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Sangeeta Sharma |
THE LAUGH OF MEDUSA: A LYRICAL RESPONSE
Why was Medusa cursed into a monster?
Because men feared female desire
Men retell the myth and turn Medusa into a monster
Says Cixous, for women - it’s a call to arms,
To reclaim their identity through writing.
Rejecting the patriarchal society of western culture, she urges women to
‘Writing’ that will give women an access to her innate strength
It will bring back her desires and her organs.
I find Medusa and her laughter fascinating:
Gorgon Medusa, is the empowered self of woman
Her repulsive appearance comes to her aid
Ironically, Athena’s curse becomes a blessing to her
Makes her capable of protecting herself by bringing down her gazers to ashes instantly
The innate self of Medusa is beautiful
It is the visage that becomes monstrous and ugly!
Medusa is aware of the healing curse.
She knows she’s beautiful within and she laughs.
In the contemporary times, she can be an icon for the victims of clitorectomy, acid-throwing, burn-survivors, rape-victims and all traumatised women.
***
MEDUSA, SLAYER OF PERSEUS
Gorgon Medusa, daughter of the ancient marine deities, Phorcys and Ceto
Is a fascinating, recurrent figure of classical mythology
The naked effigy of the only mortal Gorgon installed in New York City
The1,000-pound bronze sculpture,
A re-imagined version of Medusa
Stands tall at the Collect Pond Park
Medusa’s visage is now the new symbol of female rage
For feminists
The beautiful maiden who was raped by the most powerful Greek Gods, Poseidon
Forcibly and then punished for desecrating
The temple by Athena, the powerful Goddess
Blamed and transformed her into a monstrous beast with venomous snakes as hair
As well as a gaze that could still men into stone
The Greek God Perseus later killed her
And displayed her head on his shield as a trophy.
Enough of victim-shaming!
The new effigy in the New York park gives justice to the rape-victim
Depicts her as completely empowered as she holds Perseus’ severed head in defiance
This empowered self of Gorgon Medusa guides us through our terrors,
Lifts us from the dark depths of fear
And emboldens us to draw the sources of our power-of our power as women.
***
Dr. Sangeeta Sharma is the Associate Editor of Setu, a bilingual international peer-reviewed journal and former head, department of English, B.K. Birla College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Kalyan, an autonomous college affiliated to the University of Mumbai. She has authored two books and edited six anthologies on poetry, fiction and criticism (solo and joint) and two workbooks on communication. One of her books is listed as a reference at Clayton State University, USA.
Women Poetry: Ms. Sangeeta Gupta, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Sangeeta Gupta |
THE MYTH OF MEDUSA - DECONSTRUCTED 1
Medusa, you were betrayed by the gods
they called you a demon though
Your innocence, your purity of the body and the soul was violated
You were a priestess, praying in the temple of Athena, the goddess
without your consent you were taken away
by Poseidon, the sea god
Athena cursed you instead of cursing Poseidon
You prayed, you pleaded but she did not heed
You lost your virginity to a god
You were heartbroken and devastated
what killed you more Medusa
the physical violation of Poseidon
or was it the betrayal of Athena
whom you worshiped and revered
more than anyone in the universe
when you needed healing, Athena cursed
taking away your beauty, isolating you from all others was an act of envy,
justice was denied to you
It seems it is a universal curse
on womanhood by Athena.
***
THE MYTH OF MEDUSA – DECONSTRUCTED 2
Medusa, you were immortal still
you could turn any male into stone
you turned your curse
into an asset with vengeance
you rose from the victim mode
with furious rage
you became a challenge to the gods
they killed you by design, through scheming
yet your head remained immortal
you returned finally to Athena
as a symbol of her shield
reminding her always
of the wrong done to you
you returned as a savior
that was your sweet revenge
and unconditional love for Athena
Medusa, let me salute you.
***
Women Poetry: Dr. Paramita Mukherjee Mullick, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Paramita Mukherjee Mullick |
MYTH DISENTANGLED
Medusa, the monster with venomous snakes on her head.
Medusa, who turns her onlookers into stone.
Don’t you see she has taken up all the venom of the world on her head?
Lord Shiva had drunk up the poison of the oceans.
So has she, absorbed up poison of the whole world.
Taken up on herself to clear the world of venom.
Like a tigress who protects her cubs
Always vigilant, always alert with stern eyes.
So is Medusa with her stern look turning vicious people into stone.
Washing the world of evil influences.
Protecting, guarding all like a mother.
Gorgo, the guardian of all.
The daughter of Gorgon and Ceto.
Why do we hail Perseus as a hero?
Was beheading Medusa heroic?
Was using her head as a weapon heroic?
The beautiful Medusa, a protector, fearsome and enraged.
Guarding and protecting so her myth goes on age after age.
***
GORGONEION*
The head of Medusa appears on the Gorgoneion.
For averting evil and bad influences.
So how can we call Medusa evil?
The one who protects from evil cannot be evil.
Her stern look, her enraged visage.
She is there to protect and for us a war to wage.
With tangled snakes on her head.
Turning people gazing at her into stone.
The beautiful Medusa stands alone.
Burdening herself to clear the venom of the world.
She was once made the logo of a fashion company.
The averter of evil is called evil, what irony!
*Gorgoneion—evil averting device
***
Women Poetry: Ms. Pankajam K, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| K Pankajam |
THE VIOLATOR AND THE VIOLATED
Medusa, the maiden, saw only dead men
she left her legacy to the women in the world, not wholly.
Countless victims like Asifa in Kathua
with no vipers on their heads
could not make men stony in one look.
Poseidon, the violator
made Athena’s temple impure, with his sin
and his numerous cohorts
continue to celebrate his heroism even today.
Violator is not at fault, violated is
and she was slayed with Athena’s Shield!
Seaweeds in red sea turned into corals, they say,
getting sprinkled with the blood of Medusa,
All seven oceans are soon to turn red with corals.
Medusa, the monster became the epitome of female fury
The tale may be old, facts not; they are fresh and true.
Let the violated acquire the powers of Medusa
Let’s hold aloft the victims’ rights, not their heads.
***
MORTAL TO IMMORTAL
Beauty is a blessing to women
It might turn a curse too.
Medusa the mortal Gorgon, no exception.
Eye of Sea God fell on her,
her astonishing beauty, her fault.
Athena could also not stand the beauty of her priestess.
For making love in the temple
Goddess made her awful with tangled snake hair,
but gave power to make men stoney in a stare
with her snake-like pupils and green eyes.
Was it a curse or a blessing? Indeed, the latter,
for men could not go near her
and she became the protectress of women
Looking at her reflection in the mirror
Perseus when beheaded her, that too in sleep,
the cowardice proved the power of Medusa,
the symbol of female power became immortal.
***
Pankajam K is a bilingual poet and novelist. Her poems, book reviews and articles have been published in many journals and anthologies. She has to her credit twenty-four books; fourteen books of poems, a translated poetry collection in French, & three fictions in English. Three books on literary criticism discuss her works in detail. A book of critical essays and research papers on her poem titled “Poetic Oeuvre of K Pankajam” has also been published. She is the recipient of many awards such as Rock Pebbles National Literary Award.
Women Poetry: Neelam Saxena Chandra, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Neelam Saxena Chandra |
BE A MEDUSA
They thought that Medusa should be killed!
The tell-tales spread that anyone who looked at her
Would turn into a stone!
They desired that she may be buried so deep under the earth
That no one should see even her skeleton;
After all, seeing her head could still turn them into a stone!
Named as a monster, Reptiles are shown slithering on her body,
The mothers are often heard whispering to their daughters,
“Don’t become a Medusa!”
However, the need of time demands that
All daughters should turn into Medusas,
The Reptiles would keep the amorous beings at bay,
And those who stare at them with lusty eyes
Should indeed be turned into stones!
After all, didn’t Sterope use her head
As a protection for the town of Tegea against attack?
***
MEDUSA’S CURSE
The beautiful Medusa-
Eyed by Gods and demons alike,
Didn’t give a damn to anyone
Lived life on her terms to their dislike!
In the temple of Athena,
The God of the sea was bowled over;
Taking her in his treacherous arms,
He happily impregnated her!
So enraged was Athena,
After all, she was destined to be a virgin;
She cursed Medusa to death,
As if she was the one to commit the sin!
Medusa’s hair was transformed
Into coils of slithering serpents,
The Gorgon was metamorphosed into a monster,
There was no one to listen to her laments!
The world hasn’t changed ever since,
Even the Medusas now have to bear the wrath
Of being beautiful, appealing or outspoken,
The wolves so many times cross their path!
***
Women Poetry: Dr. Meenakshi Mohan, USA
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Meenakshi Mohan |
I AM MANY MEDUSAS
I am many Medusas.
I have lived beyond centuries being born and reborn many times --
history has not bound me in its limited pages.
I am many Medusas in pain and peril -- an innocent beautiful girl-child,
but my own father abates my identity against my brothers,
they are your privileged pride, father, to carry your name.
There are many Acrisius who do not hesitate to cede
the existence of their daughters or granddaughters. What is their crime?
Yes, I am many Medusas in many forms --
when the lustful eyes of men disrobe me,
when I suffer in the hands of my abusive husbands,
when I, a victim, become a villain,
when you, Poseidon of the patriarchal society, remain a hero.
I am many Medusas – your savageries have turned me as an
outcast, ugly, with coiled snaky hair instead of my silky ringlets.
I live alone in my world of dead men turned to stones with my wrath.
There are many Perseus who kill me to become heroes.
I have suffered enough from your sadistic brutality time and time again --
today, I rise like rage in the marbles! Yes, I am many Medusas,
I come to revive the world where women live fearless with pride and dignity.
***
RISE MEDUSA RISE
Medusa,
once a ravishing beauty with blond, silky curls,
men eyed you with lust, women were jealous.
You lived with tranquility in your pious world as a priestess,
then came Poseidon mutilating your sacred world.
A rape victim, you lived your life in shame as an outcast,
jealous Athena instead of defending, punished you with epithets and curse,
deprived you of your charm and turned you into an ugly Gorgon,
and your silky hair ringlets into hissing serpents.
Then you came to know Acrisius, a cruel father
who set his own daughter adrift on the sea to die.
You became a victim of Perseus’ deceit as he killed you to earn his glory.
Poor Medusa, you suffered enough atrocities in men’s world.
It is time to wake up and rise.
Rise, Medusa, rise - daughter of the sea --
let your strong billows and white-crested waves crush the stones on your way.
Let your wings earn your much deserved freedom.
Even millennia later you remain the icon of women’s pride and strength.
Rise, Medusa, rise.
***
Prof. Meenakshi Mohan, Ed.D. is an educator, art critic, children's writer, painter, and poet. She has taught at universities in Chicago, Boston, and Towson University in Maryland. She has published widely in the academic and creative areas. She has been listed twice in the Who is Who Among American Teachers. She authored two children's picture books, The Rainbow in My Room and The Gift, and edited Tamam Shud, Poems of Kshitij Mohan. She is currently on the Montgomery County Library System's Advisory Committee in its Potomac, Maryland branch. She is on the Editorial Team for Inquiry in Education, a peer-reviewed journal published by National Louis University, Chicago, Illinois.
Women Poetry: Marian Eikelhof, Netherlands
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
DOOMED, BUT NOT BROKEN
Athena, get out of my side,
you jealous soul, change into stone,
are you so desperate...
to steal all my light, spread it out solely over you,
feel admired for your looks
whereas you know my beauty is divine
incomparable
oh, you degenerated spirit
don’t leave me as a bunch of dirt in the shade
pathetic, mediocre goddess
you are so vain
but dear, Poseidon doesn’t want you
he desires me
so, don’t you dare and touch me
my lovely, shiny hair vanished, all vanished
only snakes crawling on my scalp
but never mind, Athena,
you can have my head
see you in the world of light
after death.
***
MODERN MEDUSA
So sorry, dear,
for not being the lovely nymph you dreamt of
instead of lying at your feet, kiss the ground you walk on,
I am assertive
The witch you see is only a woman
setting her boundaries straightforwardly
I am being honest, whereas you find me heartless
dislike my independence,
the capacity to break free from old patterns
from dysfunctionality
how you envy this
call me insensitive
as I try to make the deadline
prioritize professionalism
don’t try to demonize me, dear,
for being a business woman
is no sin.
***
Women Poetry: Dr. Maria Do Sameiro Barraso, Portugal
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Maria Do Sameiro Barraso |
MEDUSA I
You come from the mist of history,
from the darkness of the Greek
archaic world populated by Giants,
Cyclops and all kinds of monsters.
You come from the riddles of the past,
as a symbol of poisoning and evil.
Your sin is nuclear, but you had to die.
From the blood of your beheaded
neck, beautiful red corals emerged
to protect and adorn the maidens’ neck,
recalling the beautiful hair
that once had crowned your head.
Your memory lives now among green
moss, waterand sea corals.
I did see your face turned upside down,
running water washing your stare,
purified by time
at the Basilica Cistern of Istanbul.
***
MEDUSA II
I read your words of stone, listening
to the sighs of those who fell helplessly,
petrified by your eyes.
Once you were a beautiful maiden,
someone says,
but the wheels of misfortune
turned you into a snake-hairy monster.
You were abused by Poseidon,
and punished instead of him,
damned to live like a winged
and scaly nightmare
until Perseus freed the world
from the inflicting venom
that the destiny harshly instilled
into you.
But you survived in the duality
and ambivalence of heavenly deities,
turned into a guardian at the gates
of shelters of pain.
***
Dr. Maria do Sameiro Barroso from Portugal, medical doctor, and multilingual poet, translator, essayist and researcher in Portuguese and German Literature, Translations Studies and History of Medicine, has authored over 40 books of poetry, published in Portugal, Brazil and other countries, along with translations and books of essays. Her poems are translated into over twenty languages. She is a recipient of national and international prizes such as International Prize Pray of Mother Teresa,“Gjon Nikkoll├л Kazazi, Gjakov├л, Kosovo” (2019); Prix International de po├йsie de l'Acad├йmie Europ├йene des Sciences, des Arts et des Lettres (AESAL) 2020; 1st Prize "Versos del Pilcomayo” Bolivia (2020).
Women Poetry: Dr. Margaret Saine, USA
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
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| Margaret Saine |
MEDUSA’S VOICE
Medusa was a nymph
with a formidable voice
They drowned her
like they drugged Pythia
silenced Cassandra
sacrificed Iphigenia
killed Niobe and Medea
and let Penelope
wither at the distaff
Life was not is not
pure pleasure for women
their blood relevant only
for a brief moment
when she gives birth
Medusa’s voice
still sings us to sleep
in these dangerous times
***
ROSE RED
Rose red dahlia red carnation
fuchsia poppy petunia
salvia tulip cosmos
hollyhock penstemon
and red on red geranium
these are my sisters
Roots firmly planted
drinking sun
shining water
stretching moon
fibers night and day
eons of breath
onslaught by noxious
bugs slugs thugs
from bud to wilt
Lifted through
the passages of life
from bud to seed to fruit
Subject to
the passage of time
***
Dr. Margaret Saine was born in Germany and lives in California. She has taught French and Hispanic literatures and writes in five languages, also translating other poets between them. Her books of poetry in English are “Bodyscapes,” “Words of Art,” “Lit Angels,” “Gardens of the Earth” and “A Book of Travel.” Saine has also published four poetry books and a childhood memoir in Germany. In 2021, a book of poems in French and in Spanish are being published in Montreal and Madrid. She has written over 5000 haiku and has several manuscripts in English, Italian, French and Spanish ready for publication.
Women Poetry: Dr. Ketaki Datta, India
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
 |
| Ketaki Datta |
THE PRESENT-DAY MEDUSA
The lady was flogged by her husband,
No toadying could she do for a shelter,
She was about to slam the door behind
And leave the house for a place, better!
She touched her head and found
All her hairs got matted to
look like snakes,
She walked down a neon-dazzled road
Feeling herself dejected, desperate,
losing all stakes.
From the other end
A cab came rushing,
The honk of the cab
Sounded ear-shattering!
She was thrown aside,
She was killed as she was mortal
The cabman looked like Perseus,
Cops came but he was noncommittal.
Cops left with her corpse
None was there to claim it
The dead threw a stern look and
He turned into a stone, utterly petrified!
Athena was about to be humiliated
But she had the ‘dead’ in her cellphone,
And none could touch a hair on her head
Medusa’s head would save her anon!
***
MISTRESS OF KARATE, KUNG-FU
I am a Gorgon, though mortal
I have immense strength,
Both physical and mental.
Last night my slayer came
To behead me,
But I am a modern dame,
Harming me is not easy!
I threw my legs into the air,
Circled them, kicked him hard,
He fell on the floor of my lair—
I am not a dame, but a leopard!
A she-leopard in human form,
Men may be my friends,
abiding by all norm.
They call me a Medusa with a stern look
They fear they would turn into stones,
at yonder nook!
They think I harbour snakes on my head,
But I have tufts of curly hair, instead.
They tried to kill me but failed,
I have mastered karate, kung-fu,
And am in good stead.
***
Women Poetry: Dr. Kamala Wijeratne, Sri Lanka
Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy
 |
| Dr. Kamala Wijeratne |
There is a very thin line between a human and a monster
As signified by the story of Medusa a lovely woman thwarted in love
Broken and transformed into a fury.
Isn't it the nature of man to love?
As I t is of devils to hate?
For the human and the demon dwell in the same abode
This six-foot bony frame
Wrapped in nerve fiber and muscle coat
Love makes the boundary
Between man and beast.
Remember the Beauty and the beast.
And tales told us as children
How sleeping beauty awoke after hundred years
And Snow White came back to life
It is all about the power of love.
Poor Medusa. she was forced to cross the line
And never return
The Beast did and so many others
Like Angulimala
Poisoned with hat,e crossed the line
That divided man from monster
And recrossed with the overarching love of the Buddha
Medusa hated and cast away
Had no such love to help her recross the line
***
MEDUSA DECONSTRUCTED
Was it Wrong to Love?
To be transformed from human woman to devilish monster
What audacity? What crime?
Let us put you on the dock Medusa,
And inquire into your transgression
Beautiful Medusa, delicate and fragile
A young maiden with an uncluttered heart
Swept off her feet by an unalloyed passion for Poseidon
Tall, sturdy and debonaire
Black locks gleamed on his neck and chin
A keen blu- eyed man for all seasons
Courteous and kind, soft in speech
CAN ONE BLAME YOU FOR FALLING IN LOVE?
But stiff and cold Athena did
She was perhaps jealous of the young maidens’ glowing youth
And suddenly conscious of her own loveless life
Wrinkled by too much brain she broke up Medusa’s love
And turned a tender maid into a fury
Crossed in love Medusa’s passion sprang into her hair as serpents
And her frozen heart turned onlookers to stone
I for one will not chastise you Medusa.
***
Dr. Kamala Wijeratne is a well-known poet and short story writer of Sri Lanka. She won awards for her poetry as well as her short stories from the state. In 2019, she was awarded the Sahithya Rathna Lifetime Award which is the highest award given to a writer in Sri Lanka. In 2019, she published her first novel which has won the award for the best novel in English. Wijeratne is an educationist in the field of English Language Teaching. Her specialty is English Literature teaching. Her research in these areas were published in a book entitled Culture Language and Literature. She has worked at the National Institute of Education as well as at two national universities.
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