Palinode II

Palinode II


Your mom, look
at her, crying

so piteously,
as my body is

wheeled
into the fire.

There she goes,
collapsing

into herself,
like a burning roof.

Hold her up.
Hold her

close, my
Hecuba.

I’m sorry
I ever thought

of her
as Helen.

The Love of Helen and Paris by Jacques-Louis David (oil on canvas, 1788, Louvre, Paris)

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