ART HISTORY ADVENT CALENDAR - DAY 12

 Week of Power

12th of December - The Spinners (Arachne and Athena)

Everytime I see you use your webs

to catch small prey insects,

I think you as a human girl had aimed for bigger prey,

the grandest of them all.

You had the gall... No, the GUTS

to portray my Lord Father and all other Olympians

warts and all on your tapestry,

with their affairs and the ensuing scandals.

Why did I say I won? To uphold decency?

No, it was green-eyed envy because

a goddess hadn't dared to take those potshots

and a human had been bold, brave, by far, to do it.

I was wrong, Arachne.

If you can still hear me in that tiny eight-legged form...

I say I retract my victory. You win.

ART HISTORY ADVENT CALENDAR - DAY 11

 Week of Power

11th of December - The Haywain (Haywagon)

All flesh is hay

and every human, from popes to royals to peasants

wants some of that sweet hay,

they fight wars and do coups d'état and murder

for that sweet, sweet hay...

Only young lovers seem inmune

to the spell of that sweet, sweet, sweet hay;

how wonderful is the power of love!

ART HISTORY ADVENT CALENDAR - DAY 10

 Week of Love

10th of December - Hermaphroditus and Salmacis

SALMACIS AND HERMAPHRODITUS
I was always the odd one out
I only had a shawl for a clue
alone among all of my kindred
in the end, the yearning was too strong
liquid mirror, who's the fairest one of all?
I've walked through ice and fire, through storm and flood
but I still haven't found what I seek
but I still haven't sought what to find
a sprig of lavender would be nice in my hair
my head swims, my throat's seared, flames dance before my eyes
this clump of lavender bushes will be fine, won't it?
the sound of rushing freshwater smites upon my ears
braiding, with lithe and gentle fingers, these scented stalks
I bend the knees, cup both my hands, and quaff liquid crystal
the corsage fits my right wrist perfectly
it tastes like this refreshing spearmint, that grows all around
gulp, gulp, there must be a thirsty stranger at the spring
coursing down my throat, this draught quenches the inner flame
a stripling or a maiden? A young person, seen from behind...
splashing on my face, the perspiration is washed off
I tie my hair back in a golden sun of a chignon
now a rest in the shade until the afternoon falls
those sharp features... that dark shade on his lip... it's a he!!
the chirp of cicadas lulls me off to sleep
Now I stand right before you; you're in for a surprise!
GASP!!
Fair stranger, I have been waiting for you!!
She's popped up like a traitor, without forewarning!!
If not as a sweetheart, as a sister or a friend...
Flustered, I turn my head to the left as she clasps me!
At least I've kissed his right cheekbone! Shy pretty boy...
L-leave me al-lone, or I will l-l-leave this pl-lace!
He turns to the pond, not seeing me saunter behind him...
At last alone... ready to have a swim in peace...
this mastic bush provides the perfect hiding place to watch
my right foot, refreshed, shivers pleasantly; the left one plunges in
now he casts off his cloak... such dazzling white shoulder blades!
undressed, I wade until I stand up to the waist
his shapely legs cleave the water like a frog's
so free and so fresh I have never felt on land
this blaze sears me like a raisin in the sun
so fresh and so free I have never felt on land
only he can quench my insides, that no longer can hold this flame...
even the remembrance of my quest has dissolved
I WIN!!
she clasps me around the waist, plunging me underwater
he kicks, and writhes; I hold him even tighter
my lips are sealed to keep precious air within me
his shut lips constantly turn away from mine
at last all my limbs falter, my lips part, my lungs are flooded...
precious diamonds of air rise to the surface as he grows pale...
is this the way things should end?
is this the way things should end?
I make a wish to live through this icy, liquid darkness
I make a wish to give my own life to save his own
and the wish comes true, indeed
and the wish comes true, of course
both male and female, both dead and alive, and neither
both female and male, both alive and dead, and neither
and all who touch this spring may share our fate
and all who touch this spring will share our fate

ART HISTORY ADVENT CALENDAR - DAY 9

 Week of Love

9th of December - Persephone

I am caught between two loves: I am

my mother's daughter, but also my husband's wife.

I spend half the year with each of them.

I love them both equally,

half a year under the Sun,

half a year in the Underworld.

After all, Mum, when I disappeared

you were worried so sick

that the whole Earth grew cold and barren.

And you, my lord,

though you spirited me away by force

into your dark realm,

I gradually grew to love you as a wife and Queen.

I am forever caught between two worlds:

my mother's daughter, but also my husband's wife.

This is me. Persephone.

ART HISTORY ADVENT CALENDAR - DAY 8

 Week of Love  

8th of December - Othello and Desdemona

"No way but this;

killing myself, to die upon a kiss."

You were the only one who loved me for me;

seeing the man instead of the war hero or the freak.

And I loved you with all my heart back,

so much that I feared losing you,

like I lost so many friends on the battlefield.

When it seemed I had lost you, I thought of your death

as a way of sparing others the heartbreak I felt.

It was like the whole cosmos fell apart,

and only getting rid of you would set things right.

I have just realised you were innocent,

always pure and true,

and I would live in infamy, fallen from grace,

for having taken away such a pristine life.

No way but this;

killing myself, to die upon a kiss.

THE GORGON SISTERS

 Here is a little filk we had thought of för a while. LOVE this filk

[Poseidon]

There's nothing rich folks love more
Than going downtown and slummin' it with the poor
They pull up in their carriages and gawk
At the common philosophers

Just to watch them talk
Take Ceto and Phorcis: those sea Monsters are loaded
Uh-oh, but little do they know 

that their daughters, Stheno, Euryale, Medusa

sneak up to the acropolis just to watch 'em guys at

WORK WORK WORK

Euryale...

WORK WORK WORK

Medu-u-sa

WORK WORK WORK

And Stheno!

The Gorgon sisters!

WORK WORK WORK

Euryale...

WORK WORK WORK

Medu-u-sa

WORK WORK WORK

And Stheno!

The Gorgon sisters!

ART HISTORY ADVENT CALENDAR - DAY 7

 Week of Love

7th of December - Lisant un conte

Oh please Mum, tell me a story,

while we snuggle up and cuddle,

swaddle the tale in snuggles and cuddles,

of Beauty and the Beast, Lumière and Cogsworth,

or the star-crossed romance of Romeo and Juliet,

or the battles of El Cid, or the Fairy Queen

who fell for a donkey-headed actor.

I can never get enough of all your stories,

told with oodles of love, and cuddles here and there...

And you will be proud of me, Mum,

when I come of age and, as an adult,

I have a passion for literature.

I have lovingly watered the seeds

of all stories you planted in me,

as a token of our mutual LOVE.