love yourself, Galatea

heartbeat held between chattering teeth,

objectified the darkness, learning to appreciate her heart,

with every pain it felt, for she felt, the sculpted beauty

with ivory curves and veins carrying eternity.

---

love yourself, Galatea, for not letting it turn cold,

from all the burdens, the groans of the beast.

love yourself, Galatea, you were breathed into existence

and you are more than the mere edifice of his desire.

---

your wonder in places he’ll never reach,

foolish men doomed to suffer, sentenced to death,

but you’ll live forever, so stand tall with pride,

scream to the skies in protest.

---

love yourself, Galatea, your voice is only yours,

you did not succumb under his filthy hands,

ivory might crack, but ivory will never burn.

love yourself, Galatea, for you owe this to yourself.

---

A short explanation:

My inspiration for this poem was the Pygmalion myth. Simply put, the myth revolves around a sculptor who carves an ivory statue that is the representation of his ideal of womanhood and falls in love with her. Consequently, his prayers of Galatea becoming a real woman are heard and answered and the goddess Venus brings the ivory statue to life. Essentially, the myth has a happy ending, with them marrying and having a child; however, it only has a happy ending if you are willing to look beyond certain aspects – that being, misogyny, stereotyping and false images of womanhood.