Galatea

Another mythological poem.  The sculptor Pygmalion fell in love with his own statue, Galatea.  She was modeled after Aphrodite, and that goddess brought her to life for him.

     Galatea

It’s not easy being Aphrodite
made marble and put on a pedestal
to be shaped by one man’s desires.

It’s even harder to be made flesh
and step down into his world without
disappointing him, so I first turned part

of him to stone, hoping he would love his
own lust, even if he did not love me,
and would not notice my imperfections.

But then the real miracle occurred:
as we aged together, he saw my flaws-
my wrinkles, my worries, my silly fears-
and did not look away.

In this way we found something stronger than stone,
human love Aphrodite has never known.