The dread that can’t be named has seized my mind
I cannot breathe, my body feels remote.
A speechless infant seeks but cannot find.
What awe, what horror crossed my mother’s face.
An image with no name from this I brought
I lay and trembled in her tight embrace.
The image is a rock that blocks my path
A rock that can’t be moved or thrown or caught
Like the gorgon’s head of ugly wrath.
I wish my song to be a mirror bright
I shall find a way to earn the right
As Perseus killed the Gorgon without sight
I need the shield of poetry in the night
How my heart speaks 