Pallas Athena

by Louise C. Callaghan

The goddess threw her warring
            spear aside
            and her shield...

It seems to me
            three decades later,
            and more

the sad arc of her helmet
            is bowed for
            some mortal loss:

that gentle-eyed Pallas
            was the psalm
            of her sadness.

With love's arms around her
            they wrestled and played,
            girl and goddess,

tasseled wings mingled
            with lustrous
            oil-dark hair,

how perfectly
            they matched.
            I can almost hear them laugh.

But too easily she snapped.
            In pity and sorrow,
            Athena took her name.

©louise c. callaghan