Nike, by Ekaterina Dukas

The Winged Victory of Samothrace (Greece) c. 200 BCE

Nike 
 
There has hardly ever been another woman 
able to express so much  
without needing for a moment  
her head or her arms – Nike –  
the woman, victory algorithm: 
body language of rhetoric winged assemblage,  
curves, which if trailed, will craft an epic stratagem, 
décolletage, which if inclined, will disclose the divine, 
all this, just in case; actually, she is holding here  
an exclusive press conference on the secret nature  
of conquest – a premise of massive public interest,    
here on top of Louvre’s Escalier de la Victoire, 
courtesy to that fabled impression seeker,  
expression finder, Paris, per se. 
 
From the bottom start your horizon is diced    
by the flight of steps cascading at your face -  
‘E’ flat major tones scaling down  
as stepping stones for your dream’s advance; 
while she rises rock solid from the fading flats, 
the impulse arching her torso in folioline grace  
and taking your horizon under her wings. 
 
You stop petrified at her feathered patronage, 
after all, she is a text book victory model, 
and your head starts churning: 
Do I deserve such instant friendliness? 
Am I up to this kind of compliment? 
How should I react? 
Your problem – your head,  
which countless a time stops you from  
being the best version of yourself.  
While this exactly is her secret strength: 
no head to meddle with the art of the heart – 
it rules by direct instructions from the gods. 
No hands to give in order to grab –  
Fate alone rewards innocent acts; 
coming near the biblical skill – 
non-man-made non-hand-created test. 
Meditation at its best.  
 
Now, the realness - on top of that staircase 
at the feet of Her Headless Highness –   
victory set in stone, history’s finest refrain –  
welcome! But to feel at home, here is the protocol:   
avoid your head if you want to grasp the gist,  
be like her – head free, at least  
stop that clock ticking ‘think-thought’;  
take the vibes at heart and listen to their part –   
this is you when losing your mind  
after the love of your life, 
you - when at zero hour your wits went blank 
yet, you reached your mental Mont Blanc, 
you – when daydreaming flew to Budapest  
but landed in Buddha’s past –  
these headless conquests steered here 
your pilgrimage that now syncs  
with Nike’s articulate body language,  
in a joint heroic ‘E’ major tune,   
courtesy to that fabled impression carver, 
expression finder, Nameless, per history annals. 
 
Now you can cross the river,  
not Rubicon, the Seine, to see that spirit 
flamed in all colors at Musee d’Orsay; 
but before that you can pop down to level zero 
and say hello to the other armless hero –  
Venus de Milo.   
They are relatives. Not just armless Hellas. 
They are the fabled shape-shifting twinfellas, 
victory in beauty, beauty in victory, supreme. 
Each of us a pilgrim. All in a perceptive climb.  
Down. Up. Round. Fast. Conquest at last!  
Beautiful! August!  
…Samothrace, Milos, Paris, Paradise?... 
Makes no difference,   
it is the top of the expressianic flight  
of thousand impressionic steps, 
courtesy to those fabled ecstatic movers  
and shakers, as per their fabulous creations.  
 
Ekaterina Dukas 
 
Ekaterina Dukas, MA, has studied and taught linguistics and culture at Universities of Sofia, Delhi and London, and authored a book on mediaeval manuscript art for The British Library. She writes poetry as a pilgrimage to the meaning and her poems have featured widely on The Ekphrastic Review and its challenges. Her poetry collection Ekphrasticon is published by Europe Edizioni, 2021.