Oh, modern Niobe, name changed, hubris remaining
Rich beyond imagination from labor none of your own
Perfidious bitch, boasting your powers
Reveling in your victory
Your time will come

Although impious humans refuse belief
Don’t be so sure that the Gods of Olympus do not still wreck their havoc
And may it be so
Mighty, Leto mother of Artemis and Apollo, arrows always true
Just look at how she struts and brags of her supernatural luck
A fine son by me, two daughters by a traitorous bastard of bastards
Simply view her perfidy, and wreck your havoc

No, I do not call upon you to send Apollo to fire his arrows
Death-dealing in each instance upon the innocence she bore in her evil womb
They, being human, and not Gorgon, may yet escape the curse of Niobie’s reincarnate black heart
Yet, there is still work to be done, let us work a plan to deceive and destroy sacrilege incarnate

I beg you, great Goddess, second in power only to Hera herself
Hear me from your temple in Delos, and we shall sow the seeds of justice
Where heretofore only those of hatred and brazen haughtiness has reigned

Send your deadly son, as a visitation upon her house
Making but one exception of your vengeance from former days
Make his arrows true, to be sure
Yet, have their effect last only so long as to have this odious reincarnation meet the fate of her forebearer
Have him, Gods pardon my need for vengeance and see my vision through,
Have your son, Leto, whom none can match, make a visitation with his sure bow and swift arrows
Pray save me for this, which is not more than the manifestation of a just heart, and hurt no child
Yet, have an arrow delivering only deep sleep pierce my precious son, as he rides his bicycle, hands above his head, while his mother watches
Then, as sisters, in spite of the betrayal in which they were conceived, gather round to mourn their beloved, sweet brother themselves be struck: one after another

Have our disguised Niobe, believing herself greater than any creature human or otherwise
Act as she who ruled with her husband over the kingdom of Thebes
Have her fold herself over her youngest, inept attempt to protect her from presumable death
Yet, just prior, have he who bears the soul of mendacity, approach the scene and cast himself in to the pit of Hades, to live as nothing less than the shade his soul already is

And in her grief, have her turned to stone, a statue carried by just winds to her equally heartless parents,
Father far from the formerly great Tantalus, father of original Niobe and only man great enough to be a guest at the table of the Gods, before his wretched crime
Yet who will certainly share his fate
Mother, who wears only the disguise of one with a heart: truly Gorgon, insidiously having turned her own heart to stone
Have them, so near to them in their belief of their economic immortality, the result of diamonds stashed behind wall sockets by a grandmother during the trials of the 1930s
Bear witness each day to the statue of their precious daughter in whom they profess disappointment, stone leaking salty fluids from her tear glands
Have them beat their breasts as did Narcissus, at the loss of their pseudo-love, progeny of their own love manifested as cutting insults delivered by the hour, too slow witted to do so by the minute

Finally, great Leto, revive the innocent and fill them with your wisdom
Pray they each learn from the prideful futility and disastrous mendacity of their Mother, Father, and Erstwhile-Paper Father
Bring me sweet Goddess, to be in the presence of that boy strong of spirit and heart
Yet, lacking in any pretensions of immortal gifts
Allow us to flourish, and especially he, the innocent of innocence
Moreover, have the girls also find peace of heart
I will take them myself
I will imbue in them piety to the Gods, who are swift in their Justice
Allow them all to prosper in spirit, in wisdom, and in life
Issue this prayer with a pure heart and a clear conscience, in the name of justice, both yours and my own

©1/9/2011