Carrying your own rebellion of Lepidus, Brutus,
you have seethed and broken teeth over Claudia, so I shall be your Porcia.
I’ll not swallow fire for any man –
nor poison my lungs with foul air, nor with any lingering malignancy.

I’ll not trap myself in the purgatory of suicide for any price or want or hurt.
Instead, I will line my stomach with gold and carefully sew my lungs with precious stones
so that you may see me on your return from battle.

voyage to death; death to voyage.

Wrapping my legs around your torso like Medusa’s hair and
turning you to stone so that you may never cross a passage without me,
I compound the fluid I have collected into ichor so that we may live forever
as stone and wood and silver and gold.

nectar of a hero; heroes’ nectar.

* * * * *

Carly-Jay Metcalfe is a Brisbane-based writer of poetry, fiction, memoir and biography. More of her writing can be found atwww.bruisesyoucantouch.com. This is her first contribution to Snake-Oil Cure.