Medusa’s Smile

Medusa once had

A smile so beautiful

Her gaze was as

Addictive as Blues

Yet

The men that swallowed that pill

Are still standing in stone

They drown each night

As the tide rises and falls

On the beach that surrounds her home

Their first few steps began

Their eternal stay with her

Old age can also be

A lot like Athena’s curse

Inward beauty

Is the only beauty that lasts

I’ve seen this

The ones that age with grace

Beam bright with happiness

In the end

For they’ve lived

With love in their heart

Not having to possess the world

Or profit from its possessing  

I’ve seen the other side as well

The ones incapable of love

They age with hate

With bitterness

Never letting go of their grudges

In time, their aura will be much like Medusa’s 

Their hair, slithering serpents

Their mouth full of needle tip teeth

With a slippery forked tongue

Tasting the air

Claws as sharp as barbwire

Maybe they’re as blind as Medusa?

For, she still sees herself as beautiful

Never understanding why

She turns men to stone

Maybe part of her curse was only

Seeing perfection in her refection?

Maybe, just maybe

That’s why she still smiles

With her scaly grin

Like the ones with hate in their heart

Having to own everything

Even the approval of others