EUROPA'S SONG

HEDY HABRA

You got it all wrong: no one ever heard my side of the story: I never feared his touch: engaged him in a smooth dance that later on you came to call a tango, facing him straight on, leading him, his weight leaning against my arched body, my hand an iron fist in a velvet glove: let me close my eyes to retrace our steps, yes, feel our feet soaked in Sidon’s blue warmth as warm as his breath, and yes, I placed my flower necklace around his neck, yes, and softly whispered promises in his ear to take me away to other shores that now bear my name, yes, and keep in mind he was not white like Pasiphae’s obscure object of desire.

"The poem was inspired by a painting depicting the myth of The Rape of Europa by Zeus, titled Enticing Europa, by Bill Brauer. In the painting, the bull is black while in the myth, he is white. That gave me the idea to write the poem from the point of view of Europa who reveals the true story of her so-called abduction. In the poem, she confesses that she was not abducted but was a willing participant and that the bull was not white."

Hedy Habra is the author of Tea in Heliopolis, 2014 USA Best Book Awards winner, and finalist for the International Poetry Award, Flying Carpets, 2013 Arab American National Book Award’s Honorable Mention in fiction and finalist for USA Best Book Awards and Eric Hoffer Award. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Connotation Press, Blue Fifth Review, Nimrod, Drunken Boat, Diode, Bitter Oleander, Cider Press Review, Poet Lore, and is forthcoming in the Cimarron Review. Her website is HedyHabra.com.