I want to have the beauty,
the dichotomy, of being man.
I want to be
A Spartan charged with austerity,
a Menelaus, warring for his lost wife.
An Athenian, cursed with a mind,
finding philosophy and letting it die
at the unjust death of Socrates.
I want to hunt with Athena,
fully formed daughter of Zeus,
Achilles’ war goddess,
Penelope’s reasoned savior.
Athena tortures me.
She makes me think, too much.
No, I will not paint her as a deceiver,
as jealous Arachne, the spider, once did
but I will die, a little bit, for her reason.
-FRITZ CRYTZER
