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Cassandra
She could not remember, she could only see forward
The future of her city
Her visions and dreams were alive and so real
The horrors of death yet to be.
Not a citizen there believed her or cared
She tried to make them see.
For she was cursed by Apollo to be flawed:
Her sight could save not even she.
The Greek men left Troy after ten arduous years
The Trojans were blinded with glee.
Cassandra watched from her balcony’s ledge
Then shouted one desperate plea.
“Fair Trojans! My People! Do not be fooled!”
Her voice self-assured and free
“That horse is a ruse! The war is not won!”
The people ignored her decree.
That night as Troy slept in alcohol’s mists,
The Greeks in the horse did break free.
They started to kill and to burn and to rape
The Trojans awoke: so did she.
To Athena’s temple Cassandra did go,
She had to find somewhere to flee
Its cool marble columns and statue of Gold
Softly called to her “Come unto me.”
At the alter she dropped, from exhaustion and shock,
And there she wept bitterly.
From the shadows strode Ajax, and with violent grasp,
Dragged her back down to the sea.
Through the centuries she has found me; I cannot understand
The prophecy she makes me see.
But through me she speaks, and though no one will hear,
Cassandra still whispers her plea.
