Penthesilea Poem by Vanessa Waltz

Profile: right side
Staring in the mirror at
A woman, in profile.
Soft curves, soft curves.
Face of the familial blend
Head held high atop
Towering neck.
Perfect breast, perfect breast.
So beautiful, so natural,
Sculpted curve
Above womanly hip
Round buttocks,
High and tight.
Eyes drift downward
To the muscular thighs,
The knees,
The shapely calves.
Woman in profile.
Perfect, perfect.

Turning, turning,
No passage of time,
Time stands still.
An imagined crowd
Gasping, gasping.
Profile: Left side.
So different, so different.
The warrior scars
Exposed, exposed.
Rippled, dimpled, cut away,
Scarred, scarred.
Angry, angry.
Empty.