Medusa and Lilith: a series of letters through time
Dearest Lilith,
I stumbled across
Your story today.
A passing merchant
Fancied himself a hero
In a moment of idiocy.
I have given up on trying to
Warn them.
I am
What they love to hate;
Something tells me
We have this in common
- Medusa.
~~~
Darling Medusa,
Though you have heard of me,
I must confess
Your name is new to my ears.
I must disagree with your
Expressed sentiments.
We are not what they love to hate;
We are as they made us.
They turned us into these things.
If they then choose to hate what
They created,
Well, that is
Their load to bear.
(I hope I have not offended you
By insinuating you are a 'thing,'
My friend)
- Lilith
~~~
Lovely Lilith,
My, what a welcome surprise to
Receive your reply!
Do not fret about
The language use.
I may have once flinched
At being called a 'thing,'
But that time has long since passed.
I do not get the privilege of
Feeling like a human being
Anymore.
I feel the weight of the word
'Monster'
Resting on my shoulders
From the moment I wake up
To the moment I fall asleep.
I am still human in my dreams.
Some days, it feels like
That is all my humanity ever was -
A dream.
When I think back
To my life before THAT day,
I loathe the way in which
I took my existence for granted.
Oh how different the world
Looks when your life is worth nothing;
When your death is prophesied
And celebrated.
I'll be worth more in death
Than in life.
- Medusa
~~~
My friend,
How my heart aches for you.
I can make my own assumptions
And conclusions about your past
And current situation from your
Previous communication,
But I know that I
Do not have the full picture.
So please excuse me,
My friend,
As I do what more people should
In a position like mine
And not say anything at all.
Just know that
I wish the best for you,
And I do not believe you
To be a monster.
Not in your heart,
And that's where it counts.
People choose to see
What they want to see.
It seems,
For both of us,
People choose to see a villain.
Evidently,
In their eyes,
There is nothing more villainous
Than an empowered woman.
- Lilith
~~~
Adored friend,
I thank you for your sentiments.
If I did not know that
Centuries and oceans
Keep us forever apart,
I may have accused you
Of reading my thoughts.
Whilst being a villain
Is not something people aspire to,
I find it more preferable to
'Hero'
With each passing day.
I am going to die,
Lilith.
I am going to be murdered.
A 'hero' who is no more than a boy
Will be the one to slay this beast.
I am to be no more
Than a milestone
In this child's path
To heroism.
I would wonder where the dignity
In this is,
But as a villain
I am permitted none.
I do not wish this
Child's legacy
To be the only reason
I am remembered.
- Medusa
~~~
Medusa, my dear friend,
We are the legacy we leave behind.
If they will not remember us as
Heroes and humans,
Let them remember us as
Monsters and villains.
If we cannot outrun
Our fate,
Let us embrace it.
Let us be
The most monstrous.
The most villainous.
Let visions of us
Plague their dreams
And moisten their palms.
Let our names be whispered
Like a prayer or profanity.
Let us make it impossible
For them to forget that
They made us this way.
Let us give them a
A damned good reason
To remember our names.
- Lilith
© O.M.A














