Arterian, Diana

United States, (contemporary)

Agrippina the Younger, Age Thirteen
Rome

  1. Domitius gives her iron – a ring
  2. Agrippina fingers it under her robes
  3. while her hair is woven with flowers
  4.  
  5. gold placed on her neck and wrists
  6. She thinks of the man    older
  7. than her father ever was
  8.  
  9. At the ceremony a pregnant sow is brought forward
  10. dark and wreathed in leaves    wine and crumbs
  11. from holy cake are dusted on its brow
  12.  
  13. For the goddess Ceres    for Terra Mater
  14. for this marriage    A man raises his ax
  15. blunt-side down    strikes the sow
  16.  
  17. slices the stunned animal’s throat opens
  18. her belly    The priest pushes fetal piglets aside
  19. handles the entrails close to his eyes
  20.  
  21. looking for flaws    Once signaled another man
  22. places the insides on an altar for burning
  23. Domitius watches Agrippina while the men
  24.  
  25. butcher the pig    char the guts    She does not look away
  26. The priest steps into the blood    face covered    prays
  27. in whispers    a flute drowning out any ominous sounds

Editor’s Note:
Diana Arterian describes the wedding ceremony of Agrippina the Younger, Empress of Rome and mother to the infamous Emperor Nero.

© Diana Arterian. PoetryNow. a partnership between the Poetry Foundation and the WFMT Radio Network (2018).

About the Poet:

Diana Arterian, United States, (contemporary) is a poet, writer, literary critic, editor and translator. She is also an Asst. Professor of Practice & Creative Writing at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA.

Arterian is also Poetry Editor at Noemi Press, and Assistant Director for Los Angeles Poet Laureate Robin Coste Lewis’ Poetic Truths & Reconciliation Commission.

Her creative work has been recognized with fellowships from the Banff Centre, Caldera, Millay, Vermont Studio Center, and Yaddo. Arterian’s poetry, criticism, conversations, and translations have been featured in BOMB, Denver Quarterly, LitHub, Los Angeles Review of Books, NPR, The New York Times Book Review, and The Poetry Foundation website. [DES-12/21]

Additional information:

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