Silenced
All these years
I haven’t
turned men into swine
or sung them under
the wine dark waves
so why am I still
being judged
unless it is
for the wickedness of
all women
from Eve on up
my stories are
no more lewd than
those of my fellows
it is merely the door
of the double standard
that you would like
to close before me
like a coffin lid
to slide over my face
that I may be
silenced
my honeyed words
and influence
may soften the unyielding
tower of conviction
that some men build
to keep themselves
safe from the change of years
but you are not
that kind of man so
why trouble yourself
to set a guard for others
against me
when you know
that I cast lots
or draw cards
or scatter runes
only for my own
fortune telling.
Odysseus and the Sirens, Roman Mosaic, 2nd Century AD
