LAMENTATION OF THETIS

"AND I WHO HOPED
THAT PHOEBUS’ DIVINE MOUTH
WOULD NOT DEFY HIS PROMISE
...HE HIMSELF KILLED MY CHILD"

On hearing the news about the death of Achilles
the Nereid-mother ripped her garments apart

EVERY PART OF HER BODY
HEAVES UP ITS OWN ANGUISHED VOICE

The tragic mother’ s eye is subjugated
to the irreversible destiny
The intolerable pain in her chest revolts
putting to doubt the divine credibility
the naïveté of her faith had served
until then

“And I, who had hoped,
that Phoebus’ divine mouth could not lie...”
A message to all recipients
“Gods do lie”

SHE HAS COLLECTED THE MEMBER
OF HER SON’S ANNIHILATION
ON HER ABDOMEN, WRAPPING IT
IN A CONTORTION OF EXTREME DESPAIR

Her will is like a real vortex
in her trying to absorb it
into her bowels
and to be again pregnant of it
while she carries his body
to the white island of the Gods.