I want to reclaim #medusa
To turn the telling of her story
On its serpentine head.
Externalize the monster
Draw it out; poison from
A festering collective wound
Left by a god-culture
Intent on subjugation.
To place every slut-shaming
Victim-blaming stone
Where they belong
In a graveyard of petrified beliefs
That no longer serve
Acknowledged even as
They are laid to rest.
I want to reframe, retell
Remember to her,
—to every so-called Medusa—
The strength in survival
The wily adaptations
that transmute trauma
into body-borne wisdom.
To bear witness
As each fierce survivor
Sheds their gorgon terror
And rebuilds a new temple
Of resiliency and power
From the rubble of despair.
A story of reclamation.
A process of meaning.
To honour and celebrate
The voice finally speaking
Reintegrated and transformed
From the altar of identity.
To turn the telling of her story
On its serpentine head.
Externalize the monster
Draw it out; poison from
A festering collective wound
Left by a god-culture
Intent on subjugation.
To place every slut-shaming
Victim-blaming stone
Where they belong
In a graveyard of petrified beliefs
That no longer serve
Acknowledged even as
They are laid to rest.
I want to reframe, retell
Remember to her,
—to every so-called Medusa—
The strength in survival
The wily adaptations
that transmute trauma
into body-borne wisdom.
To bear witness
As each fierce survivor
Sheds their gorgon terror
And rebuilds a new temple
Of resiliency and power
From the rubble of despair.
A story of reclamation.
A process of meaning.
To honour and celebrate
The voice finally speaking
Reintegrated and transformed
From the altar of identity.