Performance for the Gorgon -- Lois

I feel this is a part of my journey I will not want to re-visit. Sharing a meal with snakes no matter how well respected they are.The idea of watching any size snake slither up the leg of a table full of food ....Sleeping under canvas when camping I never met them
and if possible I'll leave it this way.

I conveyed this to the older woman who was sitting next to me at the large banquet table.We exchanged names and a little of our lives. I asked her if she had heard of Robert Frost the writer and told her of my favourite poem written by him....
"No" she said.
"Would you tell me of this man for whom you have such praise"
I recited to her The Road Not Taken and it was the last three lines
that she responded to
" Two roads diverged in a wood and I-
I took the one less travelled by
And that has made all the difference"

How strange I thought she loved the same 3 lines as I have always loved. We found we had much in common....our age ,our experiences,our professions etc. Charlotte was a healer ,a maker of magic potions for all ailments a grower of good food,a lover of poetry.music,dance,and a carer of animals large and small. We were as one in our friendship,which helped me overcome my dislike and fear of all these snakes crawling up the table legs and also the legs of the chair I was sitting on. Charlotte helped my shaking limbs ,by popping tasty morsels of food into my mouth every time I gasped in fear.....By the time the snakes stopped slithering all over the bannquet table I was full of the delicious food so wonderfully prepared by our hosts. Charlotte was quick to tell me of the magic spell the snakes would leave me with... The GIFT OF CREATIVITY,now I felt this made the experience worthwhile as I was always in search of more and more creativity..something I could never get enough of in all its forms.

"Time for the performance" laughed Charlotte taking me by the hand ,along the passage-way to the props room at the back of the banquet hall.."This is it" she said as we opened a door marked Pandora's Dress Ups..."Who is going to watch this performance?" I asked Charlotte..."You don't know " she replied." It is the Gorgon''

" I will tell you the tale of the Gorgon" said Charlotte. There were once three sisters in Greek mythology (I believe they really did exist) who had live snakes instead of hair on their head and they were so horrific that anyone who looked at them was turned immediately to stone"..."But why" I said to Charlotte.. "Well I think it was that those who looked upon them had been the judgemental types, you know unless you are slim and young and beautiful you don't rate highly in this world so turning them to stone was their punishment.What great women Gorgons I thought.

" Now no more chatter,off you go and don't forget your mask for the performance".... I was on my own....fear gripped me. I was not a natural performer, but having eaten at the table of the snakes and been endowed with more creativity than I could handle I thought that I would dance the Tango....
I had seen the writer Clive James dance it on T.V and he had been learning for donkey's years and wasn't much good.... I thought I could do better...... so I dressed the part... swirling 3/4 skirts and a lace upon lace blouse ,black high heel strap patent leather shoes,I knew I was going to pay the price with my feet that night,but hang it this was my one and only stage debut in dance.

I found my way through the back of the hall to the stage area and there I saw in the shadows..... A large throne made from coral I believe came from the Umbrian Sea ,bright amber in colour,it glistend in the half light.

I could not see her face but knew it was one of the three sisters and that if I danced well she would reward me well and not turn me to stone....

I took a deep breath and floated onto the stage,and if by magic music started to the beat of the Tango.. My arms raised and I clicked my fingers ,threw my head this way and that and tapped my feet to the music,on the soles of my shoes were metal taps that resounded through the great banquet hall and made it sound quite,latinish (Good word that) .... At the end of 10 minutes I was
feeling exhausted ,I then heard the clap of hands to stop and I breathed a sigh of relief.

She beckoned me up to the throne and placed on my head , a hand that was warm to the touch, and whispered into my ear a message of which I will carry with me always.....a message of wisdom.
Perhaps I will compare it with something my Father once told me."Never forget your roots from where you came".It is a message for me from her The Gorgon that is one I will always hold dear.

What a day of wonderment...