"Poet of the week winner at Poetryclub.com"

Myrrha's Tears

Oh Adonis

How brightly shines your pride

Whence your shame you keep from view

Hidden deep inside

Though you were born not of the womb

But through your mothers blessed bloom

Myrrha, once a goddess, now a lovely tree

She stands so tall in sunlight and cries so silently

Your mothers golden tears from all her tortured pain

Fall slowly from her limbs like heavy laden drops of rain

For her arms, now limbs, unable to hold her child

Because of Cinyras' vengeance upon his child he had defiled.

All is not lost for Myrrha although in her sorrow she must remain

For her tears provide us with health and happiness

And laughter once again.

Folklore: Well over 2,000 years before the baby Jesus received Myrrh as a gift, it was one of the most desired and most expensive items in the world. According to Roberta Wilson, "In Greek mythology, Aphrodite forced the goddess Myrrha into an incestuous relationship with her father, Cinyras. Cinyras avenged the act by turning his daughter into a myrrh tree. When the tree sprouted its blooms, their child Adonis was born. The resinous drops that exude from cuts in the trees bark were said to be Myrrha's tears."

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