Because men send their daughters away to marry great men
I never see Athena
But ancient Athens, galleries of sculpted busts
a looming view of the Parthenon
twenty-first-century glass and steel,
all architectural monuments that bow to corruption.
So does the entry canopy
a protruding trapezoid
itself lifted from the earth
a gem not pilfered.
The interior of the building left hollow
what's beneath this ground
the excavated remains on display
that lend truth to the myths.
The ancient goddess finds her way to the surface
face skyward to the open, airy heaven path
body trapped in a past, an unpredictable future.
Excavation proves centuries
fixed as modern-day life moves.
Greek relics connect
the once living stories
with the here and now.
This museum is an inversion; the question,
the inside of reason taken from the Acropolis
mounted by fluted stainless columns
the carved marble metope stories
a young woman taking the virgin procession
moving with her peers toward a staged performance
honoring deities at their feet
catching a glimpse into the foothold.
-Kellie Cole
Kellie Cole is a licensed architect practicing in West Virginia who teaches architecture at Fairmont State University. Kellie's poetry has been published in Whetstone, Fairmont State University's publication, Voices From the Attic, and River and Stone Anthology of Short Stories.
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