Antigone!

(A poem….

©Pipina D. Elles

Quo Vadis, Sydney 2008)

I first saw you,

by the sea shore…

Oh, Antigone!

 

Your white robe, soiled

made your face

unbearably pale!

There was a heavy

earthy smell

in the air,

that of a burial site!

 

Your eyes were

sad, cloudy

your lips

tight, gloomy.

You raised your arms

in the frightened air

decisively

and I witnessed

the chains

of your King,

broken!

Overwhelmed

I estimated

the impact

of your presence,

in that wilderness

Antigone!

 

Until I had witnessed

your presence

I was struggling

to hold

to reality…

to my sanity…

to save my soul

 Antigone!

 

You are

a mere distraction

the  antithesis

to the ruling chaos!

Antigone!..

You are!

a threat to me

to others

to all,

a heartless  thorn

to our conscience,

a powerfully willed person

against all odds!

 

Your sisterly love

the respect to the sacred

your dignity

your faith…

all against the rules

of the power, against

your self preservation.

 

The indignant, the weaklings

why fear?

They overlook

ethics, pride, self discipline,

and more…

All these valuables

interwoven threads

in your tormented so

they have entangled

your girlish existence

within this squeamish

web of the king!

 

I clearly recall

the ruthless motion

the obscene rock

the guilty dark

the deadly cold

of Ades…

 

Your dignity, worthily

has crowned

the cloud of your hair

with the halo of a martyr!

Oh, Antigone…

Where did you draw

the strength from

to say “NO”

to the mighty Man?

 

I see you walking

alone in the wilderness

righteously free,

earnestly winning the title of

Female Rebel

Who’s plight was concluded

to a glorious finale !

***********