Medusa Pregnant by Julian D. Woodruff
for Susan Koval, after her drawing
Her writhing locks she found not fell enough
and so Medusa grew a snakish tail.
Yet some infatuate with the proper stuff,
a singular (not merely striking) male,
contrived to get her pregnant. How came this?
The unlikely scene, imagined from afar,
begins upon the point when longing stirs;
nature’s conjoining ways being what they are,
he must have brought his lustful lips to hers ...
But hardly could he hope for such a kiss:
‘twas not that carnal love she spurned,
but all who eyed her face were turned
to stone. Their dread fate, it was learned,
failed to befall this individual.
Was he by birth or mishap blind?
Did he approach her from behind?
Some magic potion did he find?
What shielded him amid love’s ritual?
He favored by the gods, if none too bright;
she gorgeous NOT, but Gorgonous—a sight!