Oracle by Janet Guastavino

Red Medusa by Cristina Biaggi, Ph.D.

Medusa,

offspring of earth and ocean,

nurtured by the wellsprings of life.

Serpent tendrils crown you,

whispering wisdom

and white noise

to shield you

from the taunts of those

maddened by your power.

Fecund Gaia and Oceanus

course through your veins, and

the curse set upon you

is a circlet of enlightenment.

You speak the Oldest Truths

and foretell the futures of men,

who have no stomach to hear them.

For this, you are scorned;

for this, you shall be exalted.


Poem and artwork from Re-visioning Medusa: from Monster to Divine Wisdom.

Janet Andrea Mercedes Guastavino is a video curriculum developer by trade and a poet for the love of it. She received her B.A. from UC Berkeley in an Individual Major (Women’s and Ethnic Studies), which she has found enriching throughout her adult life. Janet has been published in a quarterly newsletter distributed by advocates for domestic violence survivors and in an eclectic e-zine. She is descended from a long line of musicians, poets, writers, and scoundrels, and hopes she does all their memories justice in her poetry.