Echidne

I, in my beauty and my ugliness
with poison in my womb, I bring forth
a world full of sorrows

I sit beneath the earth
and listen to the echoing footsteps
of the mortal swarm overhead

I, the mother of monsters
feared and desired
fear nothing, want for nothing

And you, O hero,
with sword and shield
and golden list of deeds—

You, who slay my children
You, who wear the laurels
You, who seek the Elysian Fields—

May you find them.
Die as gloriously as you've always dreamed
while I, deathless, remain

My mate imprisoned—
my brood slain—
still, I am eternal

and I am the mother of monsters.

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