Divertissement
By Candice M. Kelsey
I run the country and the world. –Donald Trump
Not only able to make guards bend
to her will, she also brings Creon slow madness
with one swoop of her wand. A seduction
at the end of Act IV from Charpentier’s opera,
triumphant scene from Eurpides’ Medea
where royal henchmen fall to a woman, powerful
and no longer pleading. Creon’s loyal guards
transformed into female dancers seizing the king, Médée
premiered in Paris as trials for witchcraft
raged across the Atlantic. On stage, the actress
makes a costume change, slips off her gown and stands
in Sorceress black, hair and make-up primed
for vengeance. More enchantment than distraction.
A banished woman never loses everything,
but dark waters of the Styx always betray a king.
Candice M. Kelsey (she/her) is a poet and educator living in both L.A. and Georgia. She’s developed a taste for life’s absurd glow, long skirts, and juicy opera podcasts. She roasts vegetables like it’s a sacred ritual and wears mostly black because her late father-in-law said it’s not her color. Somehow her work has received Pushcart and Best-of-the-Net nominations, and she woke up one day as the author of eight books. Please acknowledge her existence @Feed_Me_Poetry or www.candicemkelseypoet.com.
Photo by Chema via a Creative Commons license.
A note from Writers Resist
Thank you for reading! If you appreciate creative resistance and would like to support it, you can make a small, medium or large donation to Writers Resist on our Give a Sawbuck page.
