04-11-2022, 01:33 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-11-2022, 01:39 AM by RiverNotch.)
Theodora, you could not play the penitent
all your life in the Palace. When the mob
crashed against its gates, filled its courtyard
like a flood,
and struck such prudent fear into your husband
he had his boats prepared, you stood your ground.
You would not live an exile, and so you were buried
in a purple shroud
in the peaceful years long after the riot.
The boats were left unused. Your proud resolve
led to your husband marshalling his guard
and winning the fight.
Who would have thought the harlot that you were
in your youth would grow to save the Empire?
You had no shame, standing before the crowd
naked but for the man
who, covered in feathers, wrapped himself around you
in mockery of Jove. You had no shame
when this history of yours returned to court
through envious mouths
to slander you. No, your former misfortune
you acknowledged not with suppression
but by helping those women who were forced to keep
your former station.
You gave them money. For them, you softened the law
while hardening the punishments of their panderers.
You ordered the people not to scorn them when
they sought new lives.
And now, in heaven, you choose with all humility
to forsake your holy crown, to serve without glory, to be
the lowest handmaid of the Mother of God. Your penance
you'd merely delayed.
Theodora, how you are now honored by tesserae
under your feet more luminous than the glass
glued to the walls of the St. Vitale in Ravenna:
the stars!
heck, i tried xD
all your life in the Palace. When the mob
crashed against its gates, filled its courtyard
like a flood,
and struck such prudent fear into your husband
he had his boats prepared, you stood your ground.
You would not live an exile, and so you were buried
in a purple shroud
in the peaceful years long after the riot.
The boats were left unused. Your proud resolve
led to your husband marshalling his guard
and winning the fight.
Who would have thought the harlot that you were
in your youth would grow to save the Empire?
You had no shame, standing before the crowd
naked but for the man
who, covered in feathers, wrapped himself around you
in mockery of Jove. You had no shame
when this history of yours returned to court
through envious mouths
to slander you. No, your former misfortune
you acknowledged not with suppression
but by helping those women who were forced to keep
your former station.
You gave them money. For them, you softened the law
while hardening the punishments of their panderers.
You ordered the people not to scorn them when
they sought new lives.
And now, in heaven, you choose with all humility
to forsake your holy crown, to serve without glory, to be
the lowest handmaid of the Mother of God. Your penance
you'd merely delayed.
Theodora, how you are now honored by tesserae
under your feet more luminous than the glass
glued to the walls of the St. Vitale in Ravenna:
the stars!
heck, i tried xD