Memory
Poetry
Under the watch
of stars indifferent,
I had a nightmare
last night.
I had lost you,
And everything
that could remind me of you.
I searched
every corner of this prison
around me,
To get at least one shred
of your memory.
But all I found was despair
I woke up —
Hands ready
as if to fight a war.
My heart beating faster
than I could comprehend.
Reminding me
of the tragedy,
That even your loss
wouldn’t be able
to make me forget you,
For every time
I would look up
in the starry night,
The chariot of Selene
would echo your voice
into my heart,
Like a cruel mirror
silently witnessing
my erosion.
And I’ll see your eyes,
Hotter than any star,
Burning a hole in my soul.
But even she
will abandon me
every so often
to meet her husband.
It is then,
in the cover of darkness,
That I’ll try to forget
the night we met.
Before the silver
pierces my eye again
In Greek mythology, Selene is seen as the moon personified. Stories tell of her falling in love with a shepherd named Endymion. Zeus, the king of the gods, gave Endymion the gift of eternal youth and immortality, but with a twist — he had to sleep forever.
There are different thoughts on why Zeus made Endymion sleep forever. One story says he had a relationship with Hera, Zeus’s wife. Another says that Selene asked Zeus to make Endymion immortal so she could be with him forever. Unable to do that, Zeus made him sleep forever to stay young. Yet another story is that Endymion himself agreed to sleep forever so he could be with Selene. I prefer this last story. It shows a lover who willingly gave up part of himself for the one he loved.
And his love was not unrequited. Selene is said to abandon her duties as the moon to visit Endymion and talk to him while he sleeps, telling him all about the world and about herself. There is a certain pleasure in the hurt caused by love, and someone once told me love is the bridge that we build for grief.
