Tantalus' Lament A Poem by Brooke Hardy Copyright 2006

My father has sent me to hell
For being what I call
Filanthropikos (charitable)
Evgenis (kind)
He has never felt compassion toward a mortal's inescapable fate

Buried in tempting waters up to the chin,
One droplet would suffice,
But she withdraws at the approach of my parched lips.

A tree bearing luscious fruit
dangles her branches just above my brow,
She offers me a taste but torments me instead.

I beg for their poisons so that I may crumble in their arms,
But they feel ecstasy in the wake of my torment.

Brooke Hardy is a senior at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida.  She is majoring in English and Psychology.  She studied poetry and fiction under Reginald Shepherd.  The SNReview is her first publication.

Copyright 2006, Brooke Hardy. © This work is protected under the U.S. copyright laws. It may not be reproduced, reprinted, reused, or altered without the expressed written permission of the author.