Narcissus
she unwraps the traditional gifts:
first, the brush-comb-and-mirror set,
pale pink marbling
with gilded edges—
they lie heavy in her hand;
then the jewelry box,
gold and cream
lined with velvet—
it plays “Fascination”
the new thirteen-year-old
hands them back to her mother and says
“Narcissus was a man.”
Narcissus was a man who fell in love with his own appearance—he spent all of his time gazing at his reflection in a pool of water.
***
Clytie
I can see you sitting there
looking up to your love
watching his every move
through the sky
like the girl who waited
every day at the corner
so to follow him to school
I knew his timetable
where he sat for lunch
and which afterschools he had practice
gradually your life changes
from human to plant
till you are finally immobilized
by your adulation
and unrequited love
if only you’d known
he wasn’t a god at all
but just some bunch of hot air
Clytie was a young woman in love with the Sun god. She would sit outside all day and watch him. Eventually she turned into a sunflower.
~~~
